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.
LPN2be2004, I give up. What is the picture under your name? My eyes must be older than I realized! (I know this is not a funny story, but had to know).
Last week - adult male arrived heavily intoxicated in A & E (Accident and Emergency) s/p assault. Drunk and acts like a 10 year old, but he's happy.
I take said-named-patient to the bathroom to obtain a UA. Patient is shown the location of the benzalkonium pads and instructed to "clean yourself very thoroughly before you pee in the cup".
(Getting the picture yet? I didn't)
Five minutes later I am concerned about the PT and call him through the door. To my relief he responds immediately and says he's OK. I ask him if he's pee'd yet and he responds "Not yet, I ain't got clean yet..."
(Are we any closer to catching on...?)
I ask him what's the matter and he responds that he needs more of "them little soapy pads". Now I am REALLY concerned because there was a whole box of them in there 30 minutes ago. Suddenly a light goes on and I open the door, cautiously..
Much to my chagrin, the patient is standing naked in the middle of 200 benzyl packets laying about on the floor.
"There ain't enough here for me to get clean with".
Folks, it takes one of these Kodak moments to get through some shifts.
LPN2be2004, I give up. What is the picture under your name? My eyes must be older than I realized! (I know this is not a funny story, but had to know).
The one that's there NOW is two of my parents' 4 cats (I refer to them as 'brothers' since they are spoiled rotten and live like humans).
The one on the left is a lilac Siamese, named Snook.
The orange butterball on the right is Jasper.
Snook sits on a heating pad when he's on the couch (set on 'low' the vet said it's not a bad idea. Snook is an older cat and his little paws stay cold). Well Jasper decided one day that he wanted to lay there, and then a minute later Snook hopped up , sat beside of him and just kept staring at Jasper in a way that said "Get off my pad, man".
Pictures are worth a thousand words, that one's a favorite of mine.:)
Skybirdrising- not a lot of people can work in an ER and handle it- the stress, the things we see, the things we do- everyone has a right to vent and everyone has their own way of dealing with it. We are there for our patients- we prove that day after day by taking care of them and thier families. We have to get it out somehow and sometimes it's better to laugh than cry. If we can't vent with our peers without being persecuted than there is something wrong and you are entitled to your opinion but who are you to judge! If you don't like the story than skip it and don't read it- move on. Keep your negative comments about fellow nurses to yourself. We get enough negative treatment day to day we don't need to encounter it at a place where we are supposed to interact with each other and know that we are not alone in our feelings! Get a grip.
OMG -- this happened early last spring and i laughed for months just due to the fact that it so accurately portrays the hillbilllies that surround the area i live in....
call goes out for EMS (now keep in mind it is only about 35-40 degrees out) for a boat of fisherman overturned....
an hour or two later they bring in this slightly hypothermic, and drunk fisherman....they tell us that they couldn't find the other two... that they were presumed dead....this guy is hysterical....crying....
later that day same ems crew rolls in (the patient had already gone up to the icu).... they tell us that the police found the other two guys.... they, their beer cooler and their fishing rods made their way down the river and to the bank and they were still fishing (and way drunk)
i couldn't help but laugh for days... here this poor guy was thinking his friends were dead and they just went on fishing - not to mention - they had no idea where he was and were too drunk and happy fishing to care.... gotta love it!!
Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
Originally posted by athomas91
OMG -- this happened early last spring and i laughed for months just due to the fact that it so accurately portrays the hillbilllies that surround the area i live in....
You know you are in trouble if you can hear the theme to the movie "Deliverance" in your head as the whole clan walks down the hall.....:chuckle ....and forget patient education when the tooth to tatoo ratio is 1:5.....
You know you are in trouble if you can hear the theme to the movie "Deliverance" in your head as the whole clan walks down the hall.....:chuckle ....and forget patient education when the tooth to tatoo ratio is 1:5.....
Ain't that the truth. We had a GI bleed on our floor the other night, and a minimum of of 15 family members. came at 3 am to visit the pt.. I think there might have been one full set of teeth in the whole group. Eating must bew painful.
Ain't that the truth. We had a GI bleed on our floor the other night, and a minimum of of 15 family members. came at 3 am to visit the pt.. I think there might have been one full set of teeth in the whole group. Eating must bew painful.
don't you guys realize that for a lot of low socio-economic classes this is thier form of entertainment? (some can't afford tvs) haven't you ever seen the "er-you watch it , we live it"? well, now the pts can say that!
it's like a command performance.
some complaints almost seem made up for something to do!
Here's a great family involvement story! Just this weekend one of our local paramedic units was alerted for an unconscious subject, by the time they responded, the call was changed to a cardiac arrest with CPR in progress. When the medics arrived the family was doing chest compressions on the patient. Paramedics were told the patient was unresponsive (ok, the family didn't use such a big word) so they (the family/friends) started CPR. Thank god for bystander CPR and education! The paramedics did the usual quick look assesment, monitor hook up, etc. Pt was in a perfect sinus rythym and responded to verbal stimuli. Turns out she had fallen down (passed out) as a result of a little too much ETOH. She was brought to our ER in the cabulance, treated for her ankle injury and sent home with her loving and life saving family! Fortuantely the bystander CPR was done poorly and she didn't suffer any additional injuries. Moral of the story...when you plan on drinking yourself into a stupor, make sure the people you are with know the difference between drunk and cardiac arrest
I'm the new kid on the block to this BB but yet again I feel like I am with my buds in my ER!!
The stories are great...except for those who were born without a sense of humor!! And no matter where you live there will always be stupid people...Thank God...it's job security!!!
My favorite "stupid person story"-the 34 y/o who came in, by rescue of course, for cutting her leg shaving! Now, if she were Tina Turner and had her legs insured...maybe...Oh and her "laceration"...not even bleeding. I happily triaged her to the waiting room. Where she waited for 3 hours for her bandaid...and $500 ER bill!!
And by the way...the "vibrator up the ying-yang stories"...happen everywhere. My personal favorite...the 25 y/o who came in with cc of "rectal pain". When the x-ray showed the obvious-his response..."So THAT'S where it went..." Gotta love stupid people.
and responded to verbal stimuli. Turns out she had fallen down (passed out) as a result of a little too much ETOH. She was brought to our ER in the cabulance, treated for her ankle injury and sent home with her loving and life saving family! Fortuantely the bystander CPR was done poorly and she didn't suffer any additional injuries. Moral of the story...when you plan on drinking yourself into a stupor, make sure the people you are with know the difference between drunk and cardiac arrest
dazed&confused
4 Posts
Love the stories, but I have to know -
LPN2be2004, I give up. What is the picture under your name? My eyes must be older than I realized! (I know this is not a funny story, but had to know).