What's the funniest thing your patient has been scared of before?

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One of my patients had been through a big MVA. Came out of it with two badly broken legs and multiple scratches, bruises, and abrasions all around his body. He had surgery to get his legs repaired and came out of it with a foley. In the morning, doctors gave an order to get the foley removed. However the patient became more afraid of the foley removal than his hurt legs. You really should have seen his reaction. It was like someone wanted to insert an 18 gauge IV in him :lol2: . It was just so funny. Big guy like him...been through a big accident and cut up in ways that make me cringe, yet he became wimpy over the thought of a simple foley removal. Both his mother and I kept telling him the foley removal was easy. I even told him if he's really bothered by it, he could squeeze his mother's hand. When I got ready to remove the foley, he squeezed his eye shut and kind of clenched his teeth in anticipation only to find out it was over in a second :lol2: . Just had to share it with you.

So, have any of you had stories of wierd things your patients have been afraid of?

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I had a pt who came into the hospital to have dental work under general anesthetic. When I went to give her the IM pre-med she jumped over the siderails (bent them too ) and told me that the reason she came to the hospital was because she hated needles. I told her she came to the wrong place LOL.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
I had a pt who came into the hospital to have dental work under general anesthetic. When I went to give her the IM pre-med she jumped over the siderails (bent them too ) and told me that the reason she came to the hospital was because she hated needles. I told her she came to the wrong place LOL.

I have seen lots of these ones but usually they are covered in tats! LMAO!!!

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Specializes in Neuro ICU and Med Surg.

Usually it is the pt covered head to toe in tats and piercings freaking out over having to have a IV started or IM injection.

I did have a pt the other night who was a overly anxious guy and his wife was kinda the same. I was telling him how he was being scheduled for discharge to inpt rehab after spinal surgery and he needed to do as much for himself as possible. I gave him a bar of soap and a basin of water and some wash cloths and some towels. I told him to wash what he could and I would help him with the rest. As I left the room, the pt and his wife asked me "Are you sure he won't get electrocuted?" I had to kinda smile because they were so cute in the way they asked. I explained to them he certinaly wouldn't electrocute himself and cont to encourage him to do as much as he could. He did what he could and I helped with the rest.

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Specializes in FNP, Peds, Epilepsy, Mgt., Occ. Ed.

As a student, I had a patient who was convinced I was trying to kill him with the electronic thermometer. He was in with alcoholic cirrhosis and the color of a pumpkin, so of course not in his right mind.

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Specializes in ER/Nuero/PHN/LTC/Skilled/Alzheimer's.

Had a pt today that was in for mult. superficial blood clots in r leg. Had been caught mult. times the night before masterbating by the CNAs. Today he whips out his little friend to show me a purple "bruise" on the side and asks if I think he's getting a blood clot in his member. :trout:

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Years ago when I was still a CNA on a neuro unit, I had a lady with Parkinson's exacerbation. She was fully aware she was hallucinating, but called me into her room at 3am to check her purse for the giant spider that crawled into it. She kept saying.. "I know it's not real, but I won't be able to sleep until we check!" I am severely arachnophobic!!! I told her it was a good thing it wasn't real, because if it was, I'd be on the ceiling!!! We checked her purse for the spider that wasn't there. Later she called me in to tell me it was okay now, since it crawled into the phone jack and went away!

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Specializes in ICU, telemetry, LTAC.

We had a lady whose nurse gave her ambien... god, how I hate that drug. Little ole 70-something, mildly annoying when in her normal state of mind, totally nuts the rest of the night. She wanted her purse. It's a little bitty straw bag about the size of what a little kid would carry around. Why did she want her purse, other than to elope in 20 degree weather and walk back 10 miles to her place of residence? Because she was convinced I was going to murder her with her purse.

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I took care of a patient in Recovery who was so glad when she woke up and she didn't know me. She had heard about that Recovery Room nurse who had killed her patient b/c the patient stole her boyfriend in high school. I asked my patient if she had ever stolen anybody's BF in high school and she said that she might have, but she didn't know what that girl was doing now or if she was a nurse. She was just so glad that I wasn't the girl from high school. She wasn't afraid of surgery or pain or anything else that might happen, just that her nurse might be some girl from her high school. Weird!

She must have been really mean in high school to be so worried.

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Specializes in Occupational Medicine, Orthopedics.

How 'bout all the new moms who are terrified that their child will be switched at birth?

There was one mom who's child was born purple from head to toe, with bright orange hair, and was a whopping 9lbs, 10 oz. Try confusing that child with another one in the nursery!

Blue

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A few years ago my paramedic partner and I went to pick up a drunk out of his head 16 year old. We put him on the cot, loaded the cot and were climbing into the rig ourselves, My partner was a huge scary looking (but really sweet) guy, and he climbed in first. When he stepped aside and the patient saw me (a 5'4" grandmother) he started screaming and clinging to my partner screaming "Don't let her kill me!" No matter what my partner said he wouldn't stop screaming, so I elected to drive to the hospital to avoid having to really murder him. My partner tried (rather unsuccessfully) to call report to ED over the sounds of the patients' shrieks and my laughing my *** off. The entire staff was waiting at the door to see what treat we'd brought them. I'm still known as "Killer".

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Specializes in med/surg, rural, ER.
Years ago when I was still a CNA on a neuro unit, I had a lady with Parkinson's exacerbation. She was fully aware she was hallucinating, but called me into her room at 3am to check her purse for the giant spider that crawled into it. She kept saying.. "I know it's not real, but I won't be able to sleep until we check!" I am severely arachnophobic!!! I told her it was a good thing it wasn't real, because if it was, I'd be on the ceiling!!! We checked her purse for the spider that wasn't there. Later she called me in to tell me it was okay now, since it crawled into the phone jack and went away!

I had a spider scare. I was newly pregnant and had heard about the more vivid dreams you can have, but hadn't had any yet. Anyway, I "woke up" to see a huge black spider coming down from the ceiling, about 3 inches from my nose. I then "woke up" again, to make sure it was real and it was sitting on my pillow next to my face. I then woke up for real and began screaming and climbing over top of my husband to get away from the big spider. He gallantly looked around for it and when it was nowhere to be found I stated, "it might have been a dream, but I thought I was awake when I saw it..." Thankfully, he has a good sense of humor and the next day we could laugh about it. (Although he said he doesn't ever want to wake up to my terrified screams again!)

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