You know the shift is gonna be a hot mess when ...

DWelly14 · Oct 1, 2016

Labor & delivery nurse here ... I know it's going to be a crazy night when it's raining and it's a full moon and I walk in and triage is full with more patient's being seen in our NST room and the waiting room is full ... sounds like a night where people will be getting epidurals in triage and probably birthing there too!

Or the other night when I get to the board for report feeling pretty good as there's only 5 patients admitted only to find out we have no scrub tech and the ORs are all down because they're doing maintenence on our air flow system and the off going charge says "don't worry! we've never had to do a c section off this floor." sure enough, not only do we get a contracting repeat section come in not an hour later but also a hemorrhaging 30 week previa. It was a mess!

RNikkiF · Oct 1, 2016

When the off going nurse runs up to you before you're even ready to start the shift and says "Are you so and so?? Do you have the patient in 3?!"... aww crap!

justavolunteer · Oct 1, 2016

Obviously not the same when you're 'justavolunteer', but I have walked in to have charge nurse & clerk both say "thank goodness you're here". It will busy for me & probably a day from hell for the staff. Other times I've come in to see a whole crowd in a room, the crash cart looks like it was ransacked (everything open) and the room looks like a bomb went off because of all the debris on the floor. The night shift is going to be late getting to report, the day shift is late getting out of report. That has a snowball effect for a good part of the shift.

Hweyp · Oct 3, 2016

When you aren't even clocked in but you arrive with your patient being coded for 3rd time in that evening because family is en route 2 hrs away and just want to get there before he "dies". Lose patient as family arrives in parking lot. Blood/stool/equipment everywhere. Rapidly trying to do some touch spot postmortem care before family walks into that scene and pregnant nurse uneasy stomach pukes all over pt bed and floor. Has to leave me by myself. Always have to give her hard time about it every time I see her-have to laugh about it because was just so bad.. The timing so lame

Nurse_ · Jun 9, 2017

I know my shift will be a hot mess when...

- trauma patient with clamshell thoracotomy, open abdomen, multiple drips, level 1 rapid infuser and crrt at the bedside

- alcohol/substance withdrawal patient

- getting a patient from certain hot mess nurses

- getting a patient who's being rotated because they are agitated/verbally abusive or demanding family