words you hear in the wonderful world of [color=maroon][color=gray]hospital nursing
part i [color=gray]words patients say
by: jane delveaux, rn
“i came to the er because i need an enema.”
what happened
it was the night of the biggest snowstorm of the year in our rural wisconsin community. an elderly gentleman and his wife, both dressed in their sunday best had just driven twenty-two miles to the hospital. he was satisfied that he felt much better after receiving the attention for the emergency that he had come for. the patient was discharged and he left with his wife the same way that he had arrived. incidentally because of the heavy snow, i had to call the sheriff’s department to transport our nurses to work in the morning.
“i usually just hold my breath and push and it goes away all by itself.”
what happened
this came from a completely relaxed, composed, eight year old with psvt during an ambulance transfer to another hospital. this little boy was trying to reassure me ‘cause he didn’t want me to worry. he was being transferred in stable condition to a specialty unit since his psvt could not be converted in our community hospital.
“what did you do that for?”
what happened
an alert, elderly, white male in stable condition was admitted to er. he complained of a “pounding heart”. cardiac monitoring indicated svt and he was put on oxygen. as his blood pressure was being checked, his level of consciousness was deteriorating. an iv was started. verapamil was drawn up and delivered ivp. he responded by going into another dysrhythmia and went unconscious. cardioversion restored him to normal sinus rhythm immediately. this is where he sat bolt upright and, with surprised eyes wide open, he made that accusation. fortunately, he calmed down with a little explanation.
“i really should tell you that i always pass out when i see needles.”
what happened
this was in the er. the young man needed an iv and lab work. i told him, “pass out if you want to. you’re already lying down.” he then passed out. a few seconds later we were both laughing about it.
“don’t worry! i didn’t have anything to eat or drink after midnight.”
what happened
this was a twenty-four year old male being admitted in the am for major surgery. when i asked him what he did before midnight, he stated that he had been careful and had finished drinking his case of beer in plenty of time. surgery cancelled !
“i don’t know. i think i’m lost.”
what happened
an older post-op patient was found tottering unsteadily out of his room. his wandering was a little aimless because he had flipped his only covering, his hospital gown, over his head. he was carefully returned to his bed, assessed, and watched closely during the rest of the night. with a little investigation into his medical history and collaboration with his doctor, it was decided that his confusion could probably be cured with a daily can of beer. and so it was.
“i just don’t understand why my chest is so sore today.”
what happened
the night before this statement was made, i had been walking hospital rounds to check on my assigned patients. as was my habit, i always made a quick bed check of all of the patients who were near my assigned patients, as well. even from a distance, it was quite evident that this little lady was not breathing and i called a code blue. the interventions turned out to be successful. when i returned to work the next night, she was recovering in icu and had an incidental diagnosis of fractured ribs. if you have ever done it, you do not forget the feel of cracking ribs. i did not want to go to her room to confess that her chest was sore because i had cracked her ribs. so, i didn’t.
“it sure was a nice day.”---“how nice to see all of you.”---“i’m not s-----.”
what happened
this was a patient on a med/surg unit who was on telemetry. when her monitor pattern began to show short bursts of pvcs which quickly increased in frequency, a team was brought to her bedside and the crash cart opened. the er doctor tried all of the appropriate protocols to break the vt that followed. it was sad to see that it took several shocks with the defibrillator to determine that she could not be converted out of it for more than a few seconds. each shock brought her wide awake and she continued to talk as though she were just continuing a conversation until the code was discontinued. not all stories have happy endings
