What's the most dangerous thing that's happened to you while working?

Nurses General Nursing

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Just curious on different experiences where you felt threatened or something happened that was outrageous, something that put you in fear of endangering your health? Etc...

Hoping to hear some stories from the interesting stories of being a nurse.

WOW....

Everyone thanks for sharing. That is crazy what you guys go through. I applaud you. Really. You all need a big fat raise.

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Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

Severely ETOH patient, decreased LOC. Helping to undress him, pulled his pants off over the end of the bed, and felt something heavy in the pants so I caught them up before it hit the floor. He had a cap gun (just the barrel, you tap the bullets and they shoot out on impact). Didn't know what it was, we all passed in around thinking it was just a dismantled gun. Handed it to a cop later, who turned pale, and veerrrryyyy carefully pulled out the bullets and put the gunpowder into a glass of water. Had I let it drop it would have sprayed bullets all over the ER.

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Specializes in None yet.
On 4/13/2011 at 8:15 AM, ascRN said:

Yeah, I don't care who you are. You come in with any psych/substance abuse complaint and the very first thing that's happening is you're stripping down to nothing but a hospital gown and your belongings are going in the locker while psych evaluates you.

Oh my God. Just shoot me before I ever wind up unlucky enough to be under your care.

I had a really bad reaction to a drug prescribed by a doc. It made me (a fully normal person) behave strangely enough for my son to call the paramedics. I wound up in a psych ER for 8 hours until my doctor came and rescued me. If I was in your ER, I would be SO damaged by you. Do me a favor and retire from nursing... please?

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Specializes in Psychiatry, Forensics, Addictions.

Everyday in the forensic psych unit something happens. I have been kicked, punched, and hit on many occasions. We restrain patients daily.

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Specializes in Hospice.
2 hours ago, Wolfbiologist said:

Oh my God. Just shoot me before I ever wind up unlucky enough to be under your care.

I had a really bad reaction to a drug prescribed by a doc. It made me (a fully normal person) behave strangely enough for my son to call the paramedics. I wound up in a psych ER for 8 hours until my doctor came and rescued me. If I was in your ER, I would be SO damaged by you. Do me a favor and retire from nursing... please?

“Prescribed drug” or not, you have no right to endanger healthcare staff. Since you declined to describe the strange behavior that landed you in a psych ER, there’s no way to tell if your behavior was threatening or not. Just be aware that nowhere in the Nightengale Oath or any state nurse practitice act is it required that nurses - or anybody else - allow themselves to be injured in the name of compassion. Your attempt to shame that poster is out of line.

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Specializes in ED.
On 4/13/2011 at 3:25 PM, canoehead said:

The stigma lives.

Being stripped and searched is the least therapeutic thing possible for someone with no self esteem, or who has been brutalized physically and emotionally. Do you strip the guys coming in with physical complaints wearing leather jackets and tattoos too? Do you hold off when the patient is cooperative and nonthreatening?

You may be easing your own mind while doing some serious damage to someone else. Could you rethink this one?

We don't hold off when the patient is calm and non-threatening, and we do strip the ones with tattoos and leather jackets if they are threatening self harm, harming others, or are wanting detox. Its standard practice because anything and everything can be brought in without us knowing about it. We routinely find knives under our psych bed after an unsuspecting nurse allows them to have some belongings.

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4 hours ago, Wolfbiologist said:

Oh my God. Just shoot me before I ever wind up unlucky enough to be under your care.

I had a really bad reaction to a drug prescribed by a doc. It made me (a fully normal person) behave strangely enough for my son to call the paramedics. I wound up in a psych ER for 8 hours until my doctor came and rescued me. If I was in your ER, I would be SO damaged by you. Do me a favor and retire from nursing... please?

Since the poster you quote has not returned to the site in more than eight years, I doubt they will ever see your request.

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18 minutes ago, caliotter3 said:

Since the poster you quote has not returned to the site in more than eight years, I doubt they will ever see your request.

I wasn't going to mention that, it would have detracted from the drama of the thing ?

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Specializes in None yet.
On 11/11/2019 at 12:50 AM, heron said:

“Prescribed drug” or not, you have no right to endanger healthcare staff. Since you declined to describe the strange behavior that landed you in a psych ER, there’s no way to tell if your behavior was threatening or not. Just be aware that nowhere in the Nightengale Oath or any state nurse practitice act is it required that nurses - or anybody else - allow themselves to be injured in the name of compassion. Your attempt to shame that poster is out of line.

Drugs were keflex and Ambien. I took too much keflex in error. My doc told me later that keflex can cause hallucinations. Neither my son or I knew this. The boy panicked and called 911 when I was talking to people who were not there.

I was as placid as can be when at the psych ER although I do not remember it. Nurse told me later that they just put me in a room to sleep. Nobody took my pajamas off or locked up my slippers.

I was not violent or threatening according to nurse. I was compliant. When my doctor got to hospital, the drugs has been metabolized and I was just sleepy but wondering how the hell I wound up there.

Had I been stripped or restrained, I we would still be dealing with the damage to my mind. That did not happen because the nurses exercise good judgement.

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Not me, but my coworker got electrocuted when she was plugging in a baby scale and the plastic casing surround the plug fell apart. She landed herself in the ED for a few hours, but fortunately was totally fine. Freak accident, but after that all of the baby scales had to be taken out of service and had their cords replaced.

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