Probably the worst was a 400+ lb guy brought in by EMS because he couldn't care for himself any longer. He was early 50's and was still wearing the hosp gown he was d/c in 3 weeks before.
He was so big and the house was so piled up with garbage they had to cut a section of wall out to get to him. When he got to us he was covered neck to toe in fecal material.
Me and 2 other nurses went in to start giving him a bath. Lots of hot soapy water and about 50 towels. As we turned him onto his R side, we noticed something hairy stuck in a fold.
It was covered in poop, and upon futher inspection we noticed it had blown pupils. That was the first rat I have ever had to pull out of a fold. We also recovered some Little Debbie wrappers in other folds and a crushed coke bottle stuck in his a$$
We did get this guy admitted and sent to a nursing home for better care.
I thought their was a sense of respect that we owed each and every patient. Patients are not livestock where we can sit back and entertain others with stories that are unusual. Cmon people. Realize that the type of people that you guys are poking fun about are the ones who need us most.b How dare you guys mock the value of nursing. Perhaps you should reconsider your career choice. Just a thought!
I think it's OK to laugh at our patients...helps to keep us sane and there are some nights that if we don't laugh, we just won't survive the night.
A funny ER story...not my funniest, but it's early adn I can't think of any better ones right now...
I was a paramedic student, putting in ER time in the area's largest hospital. (We havea lot of 10-15 bed hospitals in the area...this one is level II trauma...all the specialists, etc). We hear an ambulance crew trying to get us on the radio...we found it strange becasue none of the local crews had been paged out and we had no word of any crews bringing in a transfer from an out lying facility. We get report from the ambulance, get a bed ready, and the crew rolls in with the patient. WE get te patient all settled on the ER bed, do VS, hx, etc, and someone takes a closer look at the transfer paperwork. The ambulance crew had brought the patient to the wrong hospital...sigh. They were supposed to go to a hospital about 100 miles north of them...driver went south and ended up with us. The EMT in the back had never been to either town or hospital (ours or the right one) and he was too busy in the back to be watching signs or anything else. So...under those lovely COBRA / EMTALA laws, we assessed the patient, made sure he was stable, called the real receiving hospital, and sent them back on their way.
Not really a crazy story, but it was funny at the time...
BTW...the ambulance service didn't charge the patient for either ride...the hospital I was working at now has signs in the ambulance bay, welcoming everyone to their facility...and everyone in the ER that night pitched in their change and bought the ambulance driver a map...:-)
Something I've heard from a lot of patients that makes me laugh everytime: When I am done in a patient's room, before leaving I always ask if there is anything else I can get for them. I don't know how many times I have been told "yeah, a T-bone steak and a beer" or some other food item to that effect. I always tell them that if they buy it, I'll run right out and get it!:chuckle
skybirdrising - i am going to assume you are not an ER nurse - for if you were - you would know that this is our coping mechanism that keeps us sane - for we walk a fine line between sanity and insanity - we see things/do things/hear things/feel things that no other brand of nursing offers - we do it every day - and if we don't vent - we explode - perhaps you should consider that before speaking to us as you would a child! if we didn't care - we would not be able to do our job - i do not think caring is the issue - so until you have taken care of a 13 y/o with his brains coming out of his head and have to explain that to mommy while retaining your composure - then just keep it quiet.
As for the rat story - you know what really makes that gross - when rats are trapped - they dig!!! oooooooooooo!!!!!!
Whenever someone posts something the least bit critical about patients (or fellow nurses) there is always someone ready to snap to and be the politically correct police. Lets just accept that some people ARE ignorant, rude, gross, manipulative, whatever and allow our fellow BB members to vent. If they felt that EVERYONE was as bad/ignorant as whatever they were posting about it wouldn't be noteworthy, so they wouldn't be talking about it.
Whenever someone posts something the least bit critical about patients (or fellow nurses) there is always someone ready to snap to and be the politically correct police. Lets just accept that some people ARE ignorant, rude, gross, manipulative, whatever and allow our fellow BB members to vent. If they felt that EVERYONE was as bad/ignorant as whatever they were posting about it wouldn't be noteworthy, so they wouldn't be talking about it.
The middle of July in Birmingham, Alabama... get a wheelchairbound paraplegic in by ambulance. This unfortunate individual was also homeless, he had a colostomy and a foley catheter. His colostomy didn't have a bag on it, he was wearing a sweatshirt full of feces. The feces were full of maggots. His foley was brown and crusty and he had a temp of 103. The nursing assistant and I that bathed him looked like we were going to the moon we had on so much protective gear. Very sad situation. Being in the ED, I hardly ever know what happens after they leave me.
I was assisting a doctor in the ER once with a pelvic exam on this lady and she decided she had an itch "down there." Anyway, she asked the doc if he could scratch it while he as down there! He and I could even look at each other or we would have busted out laughing! Needless to say, he didn't answer the lady nor did he "scratch her itch." I still remind him about that to this day whenever I see him! (He's now the medical director for the whole hospital!)
we had a >500 lb lady the other nite that one of the nurses i work w/ had to put a foley in - she of course warned her prior to the betadine "this is going to be very cold" - while cleaning the lady remarked - "honey - that is more attention than that thing has had in years" - needless to say - we couldn't help but giggle.
Had a pt who RHC'd...lots of vomit and pulmonary edema froth coming from mouth and nose. Wanted to clean the pt before the family arrived. Stuck the suction cath up her nose and let it go...looked like I was sucking out brains.
Guy came in with a hand lac...PD calls about same time letting us know they're looking for a guy who might come to an ER with a cut hand. Ask the guy what happened...said he cut his hand on a window. PD gets there...seems he left out the part about breaking and entering.
Housefire last week...woman w hx of asthma brough in with smoke inhalation, covered in soot, singed hair, etc. Her son was ok, didn't come in, stayed with the neighbors. Medics brought in her cat as well...cat also got a good amount of smoke inhalation and was lethargic. Medics had given the cat some o2 on the truck, so I continued it...got a portable O2 tank and hooked it up to a NRB mask. Had her hold the mask in front of the cat's face...after about an hour, kitty started to perk up! :) Called an emergency vet clinic too, and they instructed me on normal vital signs for a cat, and how to assess for kitty resp distress. :roll
Here is a classic from our ER. It was about 12:30 at night, I was supposed to be off at 11:30, but there was no way I could leave the town I work in is approx. 50,000 people, with a lot of gang problems in it. That night alone htere we 7 shootings, one of them DOA. We recieved 5 of the shootings, including the DOA, the other Hospital in town recieved 2. There were so many visitors in the waiting room, on the ER ramp, and around the outside of the hospital, we had to bring in extra security, including the sherriffs department, and the local police department. We were doing our best to stay afloat with all these people, and of course they were yelling, fighting and carrying on outside the ER. It came time to take one of the patients to cat scan, and as they were wheeling the patient down the hall there was this really loud boom. Nurses and Drs. scattering everywhere, the security grabbing for their guns, then they all realized, that a glove had fallen on the floor, and was run over by the ER cart, causing it to pop like a balloon. Needless to say, it scared everyone half to death, and I actually got to leave the hospital 3 hours later.
skybirdrising
71 Posts
I thought their was a sense of respect that we owed each and every patient. Patients are not livestock where we can sit back and entertain others with stories that are unusual. Cmon people. Realize that the type of people that you guys are poking fun about are the ones who need us most.b How dare you guys mock the value of nursing. Perhaps you should reconsider your career choice. Just a thought!