What was the WORST thing a patient has been brought to ER for?

ChocoholicRN · Nov 20, 2006

Not my experience, but at a hospital where I worked: ER RN on way to work, hit broadside at intersection right at hospital entrance (level 1 trauma center) by red-light-runner. Brought in to own ER by own medics, coded by collegues/friends, and died. Bad enough that this happened, but what made it worse for the staff was seeing her in her scrubs, steth. around her neck, with her ID proudly proclaiming "RN". They almost had to close the ER that day.

this just gave me the chills, i had to read it a few times cause i didn't believe it at first. my best friend is an ER RN in manhattan and i give a lot of credit to her and all the other ER nurses out there.

bopps · Nov 20, 2006

love all of you ED nurses. you are the best and you are incredible heroes God bless you all

santhony44, MSN, RN, NP · Nov 20, 2006

I wasn't in the ER but took care of one of these babies in the Pedi ICU.

Twin babies, about 2-3 months old, with rat bites all over. Not mouse, but rat, from the size and teeth marks. Fortunately the eyes were not bitten. One baby was in the PICU for a blood transfusion, needed because of the blood loss.

Mom claimed she was asleep in the same room. We didn't believe her; there were multiple bites on both babies. Mom took the babies over to her aunt's house. The aunt had her daughter drive mom and babies to the hospital immediately. The aunt was outraged and believed the mom had left the babies alone. She was going to try for custody.

That was a number of years ago, I never did hear the outcome.

Those bites all over that beautiful baby- that was one of the most nauseating things I ever saw.

raebabelvn, LVN · Nov 20, 2006

Wow... these stories are just the tip of the iceburg I bet. You ER nurses never cease to amaze me. I know I could never work in an ER setting. Keep it up!! :)

Spatialized · Nov 20, 2006

65 y/o male, history of ETOH abuse w/esopahgeal varices. One had let go while he was on the phone with his wife, a traveling RN on shift at the very hospital where he was brought, when she heard gurgling, then nothing. Called 911, local PD took 30 minutes to clear the scene because they were worried there was someone else besides the guy in the apartment as they could see blood everywhere (they thought it was a murder scene...). Comes in, covered head to toe in blood. As we were doing compressions blood would come up out of the ET. Not a pretty sight. He didn't make it, but we cleaned him up as well as we could so his wife could say good bye.

That shook we pretty hard...

Tom

shaazzaamm34 · Nov 22, 2006

Here you Go I got a Bad One...

I was interning down in the ER when I got a 32 yr old man who came in with a prolapse rectum...

The surgeons had to put a colostomy in...

2 weeks later he came back in with a prolapse colon...

Apparently after we got the scoop... The man was a homosexual... His partner Screwed him so much his rectum prolapsed

then after the surgery... His partner decided to use the colostomy site for his plessures...

MidnightTang · Nov 22, 2006

It's official. I won't be working in the ER! Thank god there are so many ER nurses and techs to do that job instead of me. Give me the safety of med-surg any day.

Princess74 · Nov 22, 2006

Here you Go I got a Bad One...
I was interning down in the ER when I got a 32 yr old man who came in with a prolapse rectum...
The surgeons had to put a colostomy in...
2 weeks later he came back in with a prolapse colon...
Apparently after we got the scoop... The man was a homosexual... His partner Screwed him so much his rectum prolapsed
then after the surgery... His partner decided to use the colostomy site for his plessures...

That is sooo messed up!

patricelynne · Nov 22, 2006

Several: A 400+ lb male who wouldn't bathe with gangrenous testes...that ER probably still smells like clostridium Welchi. A baby with a pulse less than 20 bpm due to getting 2cc instead of .02cc Digoxin. Yes, the pharmacy HAD labled it improperly and mother was beside herself. A man who shot off his privates when the gun in his belt went off...permanent damage. A 20-something who was on PCP and jumped off a 10 story bldg. after pulling his eyes out. A woman who was frequently abused by the boyfriend who came in after he'd shoved chopsticks into both ears as far as he could. And I'm just getting started! There's a reason after 30+ years I'm in case management nursing.

lvs2nrs3535 · Nov 22, 2006

Why, Oh Why do I still want to be an ER nurse?

(and I truly do.)

scrmblr · Nov 22, 2006

Why, Oh Why do I still want to be an ER nurse?
(and I truly do.)

Because for all the horror and man's "inhumanity to man" you will see-you will also see grateful parents, grateful children, and really sick people made well. You will get to be the "first line" of medicine. You will get to be the one who delivers the pain med to the kiddo with the broken arm. You will get to be the one that holds the precip delivery for the first time (not too often, God willing:chuckle ) You will get to be the one that gets the 45 yo from door to cath lab in less then 20 minutes, and you will get to be the one who gives the family of the dying guy enough courage to sit by his side for his last minutes.

andhow5, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2006

And and risk for being cheesy, to quote a line from the song, "Men In Black": Sometimes "We're the first, last, and only line of defense".

For every gross, horrible, heart-wrenching moment you'll be subjected to, there can be just as many "miracle" moments, where you make a difference, save a life, and will impact a families life FOREVER.