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.
we had a grandmother who was watching her grandson's dog- it bit her and she strangled it to death w/ a vaccum cord prior to coming into the ed for treatment....... i thought that was more on the side of a abuse...
I was in charge in the ER when I got a stat call out to the triage desk. When I got there 2 parents were yelling and screaming and being verbally abusive in the worst possible way. They thought their son was going blind. He was seeing spots before his eyes.
We quickly separated the parents and their 16 yo son. Calmed things down. I got to go in and talk to their son. As it turns out his parents had caught him masturbating earlier that week. And like a lot of parents tried to scare him about that kind of behaviour and told him that if he kept doing that he would go blind.
Turns out he had done it again and in the middle of everything he hyperventilated and saw spots. Paniced he told his parents about the spots, not the other.
When his parents found out the truth, did they apologize for their ridiculous behaviour. No they didnt and then they called the Nursing supervisor to complain that we didnt take them seriously.
Worked another shift in the ER last night. Still can't get over this one.
We get a pt. by squad, not just any ambulance, but the one with 4 wheel drive, and extra shocks. Saw this pull up and wondered "WTH?".
WEEEELL they open the door. Rather good sized person in it. Took 12 people to get her out. Poor woman weighed 874 lbs., since we require a weight on any non-emergency cases first thing. Her complaint for coming to the ER was that she's been feeling weak.
Anyway, so i go to her, uh curtained-offcubicle, in the ER, and help her with her shirt off while the nurses were trying to make arrangements for a room for her to go to. She was COVERED in something greasy. I found the emt's and asked the emt's was this was on her.
Turns out it was a mix of Shedd's Spread, Crisco, vegetable oil, baby oil, MOTOR oil. Since she was in her bathroom they had to get her out the door. This took a total of 2 hours to clean up so she wasn't greasy anymore.
So far this is the strangest thing i've ever seen, besides Vase Man.
-This would categorize as one of the sickest things I've ever seen. This IV drug user had been shooting in the dorsal vein of his member (I'm not kidding). It had abcessed and swollen almost to the point that distal circulation was being compromised.
-This would categorize as one of the sickest things I've ever seen. This IV drug user had been shooting in the dorsal vein of his member (I'm not kidding). It had abcessed and swollen almost to the point that distal circulation was being compromised.
OUCH!
YEEEEOOOOUUUUCCCHHH!
I don't have a member, but if I did I could find much more fun things to do with it, methinks!
Specializes in Gerontological Nursing, Acute Rehab.
I'm not an ER nurse, but this happened to me while I was a patient....it's not gross, just, well...you'll see.
I was having a miscarrige, and had just finished getting my oh so pleasant internal exam. Picture it, there I am, legs spread in stirrups, bleeding, the doctor telling me that I was having a miscarriage, when someone goes into the bathroom next to my room (apparently you can get to it from my room or the hallway) Well, someone must have had some bad Mexican that day, because all we heard was grunting, groaning, farts and splashes for about 5 minutes. The doctor kept talking the whole time, and I couldn't even look at the nurse for fear that I would loose it. Even though I was very upset about losing the baby, it was all I could do to keep a straight face.
My wife and I had a miscarrage some years back and ..well its not easy.
Your story is humorious. I I had been there I would not have been able to conrtain myself and I would have had to say something to you about the obvious. Humorious but would have said the doc is forever greatful.
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.
:eek: OMG! That has to be the most disgusting yet saddest story I have ever heard of in my life! ..... and that is saying alot!
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!
Perhaps you should get a sense of humor. Give me a break, we are just sharing some of our stories we have seen in our health care experiences, not any difference if we were doing it face to face. If you don't like it, don't read it.
athomas91
1,093 Posts
we had a grandmother who was watching her grandson's dog- it bit her and she strangled it to death w/ a vaccum cord prior to coming into the ed for treatment....... i thought that was more on the side of a abuse...