What are some of the strangest situations you have gotten into in home health

hypnotic_nurse · Jun 9, 2004

My mom was a home health care nurse in the 70s. She went to see a new patient, knocked on the door, and heard someone inside yelling "Help! Help!". She BROKE DOWN the door to get in to help the person...only to find out it was a pet parrot. The elderly lady was in the back yard puttering around in her garden and was perfectly fine...she got a big kick out of the situation, and my mom was always her favorite nurse after that. :)

TexasPoodleMix · Jun 16, 2004

This is great. The funniest stories I have heard in a long time ! :balloons: :rotfl:

graysonret · Jun 19, 2004

My most memorable home health case was "Charles", a hospice patient, with colon ca, back in 1996. I was scheduled to work 7p-7a and it was my first shift there. When I arrived, his brother, who he hadn't seen in 11 years, was there, having been there since the afternoon. About 10pm, his brother went to bed. Charles sat quietly for a few minutes in the living room and then went into the kitchen, coming out with a glass of bourbon. He sat back down in the chair, smoked 2 cigarettes, and drank it down. He then looked at me, across the room and announced, "I think I'll die now." Walking across to the sofa, he laid down and closed his eyes. Needless to say, I didn't take him seriously, but I watched him. Finally, after awhile, I walked over and sat on the sofa next to him. He opened one eye, patted me on the shoulder and smiled. A few minutes later (I don't remember how long), he was gone. I woke up his brother, who wasn't very upset. Being a DNR, there wasn't much I could do but call the on-call nurse at hospice and my agency. Everyone was concerned about me and handling the death emotionally, but I thought it was beautiful. He "bargained" so he could see his brother. What a way to go. My other patient, I remember, was "Herb", a rage disorder along with thyroid ca. He had a bad habit of throwing things at the nurses. It was hard for his family to get nurses to come there. Well, I went for a shift, and, sure enough, I ended up ducking as he would pick something up and throw it at me. Last item was a 60cc syringe. I finally stood up and waved a finger at him, telling him, in as stern a voice as I could, that if he did that again, I had the right to defend myself, and I would put him on the floor. A little unorthodox, I know, and not part of good nursing. Well, he glared at me for a minute, then broke out into a smile and said "ok". From that point on, we got along fine. I never had a problem with him again. He eventually passed away. 2 patients I won't forget.

riern · Jun 26, 2004

You know just when you think you've seen and done almost everything there's always a surprise waiting. The other day I went to see a patient who lives on a dirt road sort of in the middle of no where. This patient still has an outhouse, which they use, and no running water. Oh and did I mention they have more dogs and cats than I do relatives? I get there and he's outside putting around in his electric wheelchair, I've never seen this patient before so I introduce myself and tell him why I'm there, which happens to be do do wound care on his sacral decub. He's sitting in his wheelchair with nothing on but his button up shirt, which by the way is unbuttoned. I hear all the dogs barking from inside and he doesn't want to take me in the house, wants me to do the wound care out side:uhoh21: . After a few minutes of assessing the situation and careful thought I decided it'd probably be cleaner and safer outside so we pulled up the metal chair, I spread out my chux pad and materials, much to my surprise he was able to stand up and I did his wound care. Needless to say I left shaking my head and chuckling wondering what a Medicare surveyor would think of that situation??

Then my assist director tells me about the patient she went to see when she had to draw blood and he wouldn't hear of going inside, so she drew the blood while he sat at the HOG PEN!

If nothing else our jobs keep us creative and most of the time smiling.

Jay-Jay, RN · Jul 6, 2004

One of our nurses told me this story about an elderly farmer. He had a foley, and she was going in to teach catheter care. On the second visit the patient insisted everything was okay, but then his wife eyeballed him, and said, "Well, aren't you going to tell the nurse what you did, George?"

Looking embarrassed, the patient pulled up his pantleg to reveal a large burn. Turns out he'd put the leg bag in the clothes dryer to dry it after he washed it out, and he took it out and tried to put it on without checking to see if it was cool enough.

Flamazine cream was not supposed to be part of his treatment protocol, but it was after that! :rotfl:

Joella · Aug 8, 2004

Hello,

Here is one, made a visit to a trailer home, invited in by patient yelling come in!

Opened door and could see the patient laying on the couch across the living room. Stepped in and there was no flooring, only the carpeting, being a heavy

woman, you can imagine, I had to crawl dragging my bag, it was like being

on a trampolene without the bounce. Oh home health! Social Worker HELP!

Joella

J. B. · Sep 29, 2004

What are some of the strangest wildest kookiest ect. situations you have found yourself in in the home health setting. I would love to hear your stories. I know in nursing school I would have never imagined or belived some of the situations I get into in patient's homes. Two come to my mind...
The first was an elderly diabetic gent we admitted for teaching. Talk about hygiene issues! His feet were in terrible shape and needed attention. He didn't have running water, so we got permission from a neighbor to run a garden hose over to provide him with some water untill other arrangements could be made (luckily it was summer).
The other was very sad. A middle aged lady that had sufferd a massive stroke - was in a persistant vegatative state. Mexican national, no green card, sent home with her daughter who tried her best to care for mom. Mom had a feeding tube, foley,contractres and never responded. Daughter did a good job mom never had decubs. At one visit (also in the summer) I happened to arrive just as the caregivers finished moms bath--- using a garden hose in the back yard. I was flabergasted. I recommended that they not bathe her outside in the yard. At the next visit I found that the whole family had moved lock stock and barrel. I don't have a clue where they went.

While working Home health in Southern California I did a visit on a young man Para Plegegic who had wound care needs from a burn on his thigh.

While I was changing his dressing his wife was in the bed room watching me do my thing while her husband was on their bed.

Now it is the master bed that was the od thing about his visit.

I noticed right off that the bed was ov an unusual sioze and shape.

What cought my attention immediatly was the large wooden dowle balanced above the bed and across the square frame that attached to the enoures bed post.

During my patient teaching I had to ask about the nature of the bed and its function

His wife from that point never quite smiling for the rest of the visit.

Her husband explained as best he could how it assit him in satisfying his wifes desires in face of his physical limitations.

In my natural inquisitive nature I kept requesting for more detail as to how and what aparatus was nessary for this type of acrobatices to be effective. They were most accommidating.

I have always said... I have learned much more from my patients than I have tought them in my professional travels.

MarcusKspn · Oct 25, 2004

One of my patients was a young 19 year old girl who was recieving Vancomycin infusions via PICC. Her infusions were done and we were just waiting on the doctors orders to pull the PICC. She was needing a dressing change though, and since we didn't know when we would get the order to pull the line, I made a visit to change her dressing. I called the patient to try to set up a time for my visit and she said that she was at work and asked me if I can do my visit there. I told her okay, she gave me directions to her work place, and on my way I was. When I got to her workplace, I had a feeling that this visit might be interesting when the sign on the door read "MUST BE 18 TO ENTER!". When I walked through the door I was welcomed by inflatable sex dolls, Vibrators, Media, Underwear, and a counter stacked with Bongs, Digital Scales, and various other drug related items. So here I am, performing a sterile dressing change, thinking: We do see the most interesting things in our profession.

bsnrnoh · Oct 25, 2004

Walked into a new admit case (COPD). The husband meets me at the door smiling and chatting about the weather. Walk through the house to the living room where the pt is slumped in a recliner, blue around the lips and gasping. Husband is continuing to chat about weather and the vitamins he sells and how healthy they keep him. Pt POx is 84% on O2. I crank up the concentrator as high as it will go and call 911 and ask the husband, since the pt can not talk she is gasping so hard, how long she has been like this. "Oh she has trouble somtimes you know" and (believe it or not) goes into the other room to get samples of these vitamins and brochures. As the ambulance is pulling up, he looks suprised and finally notices that I am running around trying to clear a path for the EMTs to come in and get what I do know about the pt together. As the EMTs are getting the pt onto the gurney, (they had given her more O2 by mask and she was improving) the husband asks if he needs to go with her since he has a sales meeting in an hour. By this time I was completely ticked off at him and told him that it was a matter of priorites and he needed to decide whether his wife or a sales meeting was more important. :angryfire

Don't know if he went to the hospital or not. Really don't want his viatmins either as they seem to produce brain damage, and didn't help his wife either.

Sorry needed to vent this one really got to me.

missmercy · Oct 25, 2004

homecare -- the twilight zone of the nursing profession!

13y.o CA patient -- her mother died (of CA) a year prior to child's dx of CA

House a sty -- Dad frequently had "guests" over through out the day -- he worked nights -- heard all sorts of "activity" from his room -- very thin walls!! Had "the talk" with her -- at dad's request "even though she ain't ever gonna need it". Suctioning trach and doing decub care with cats wandering all over the place.

At first, she would vomit her tubefeeding within 5 minutes after the night nurse left the house. Until the day I told her that we were going to work on hand eye coordination and I got her a bucket and a sponge and had her clean it up herself -- amazingly enough... no trouble with the tube feedings after that! We got to be the best of chums! Got the house cleaned up, taught her to help cook simple meals, was able to assist with mainstreaming her into classes at the local school for a few months. Had to leave when I lost our first baby -- too much heavy lifting -but visited 2-3 times a week- she survived to hold my eldest son -- never saw her happier than that day! Huge void when she died!! Still think of her often-- touched and changed my life in SO many ways!:)

Then there was the 700+ lbs woman who "took out" 4 members of the HH staff when she fell on us - :uhoh3: - ambulating from the bathroom to the bed.-- LOOOONG story -- will share another time. Have to go collect the kids from school!

RainbowzLPN, LPN · Oct 25, 2004

[quote name=missmercy

Then there was the 700+ lbs woman who "took out" 4 members of the HH staff when she fell on us - :uhoh3: - ambulating from the bathroom to the bed.-- LOOOONG story -- will share another time. Have to go collect the kids from school![/quote]

Hey!!!! Don't leave us hanging!!! What happened?!?!?!?!?!?! :rolleyes: :chuckle

mattsmom81 · Oct 26, 2004

A crazy bible thumper (truly believe paranoid schiz but I couldn't get anyone to intervene) who played '20 questions' biblically with me then demanded I repent before I could see his wife (terminal cancer patient). I heard my patient crying so I actually tried praying with him hoping he'd let me see her...but it wasn't enough; I wasn't in his denomination and couldn't speak in tongues: this would have proven me worthy.

I ran into crazy stuff in the short time I tried HH...went back to the hospital fast.