Your most embarrassing experience with a patient

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Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..

I had a teenage male patient when I was in nursing school who I gave a specimen bottle to and asked him to give me a urine specimen. He urinated in the bottle while standing in front of me. I didn't expect his reaction, and I'm sure I had a red face when I left with his urine specimen in hand.

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Specializes in ER.

Walking in on a young male patient who was obviously 'pleasuring' himself.

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Specializes in Emergency/Trauma/Critical Care Nursing.

3 other nurses, respiratory therapist and myself trying to figure out how to deflate an inflated member pump/implant on a critical pt on a vent, who we were trying to put a Foley in (catheter wasn't long enough to reach the bladder with an erect member). We knew there was some sort of mechanism in the scrotum and we were all taking turns trying to find some "button" that Google said should exist. Finally, the one male nurse in the room tries and says "I think I got it! Now somebody grab the shaft and squeeze all the fluid out!" (The fluid fills implanted chambers causing the erection). Just then a family member opens the curtain and walks in to a male nurse grabbing their loved one's testicles, a respiratory therapist holding the member, and the rest of us standing around the bed watching and cheering that we've figured it out! Can you say awkward? Haha

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

Hearing "mmmm-mmmm-MMMMM!!!" every time I turned my back to a very grabby 92-year-old man. That one is tied with the middle aged male patient who kept walking around naked in his room. I suggested he have his wife bring him a robe if he didn't want to wear the hospital gown. She did. Next thing I know he was in the hallway, naked but for said robe (which was a circa 1970 ratty terry cloth shortie robe). He snuck up behind me as I charted at my work station and began massaging my shoulders and murmuring "How is your day going?".

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Hahaha wait wait did a doctor really take the time to place member implants for a critical patient on a vent?

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
Christy1019 said:
3 other nurses, respiratory therapist and myself trying to figure out how to deflate an inflated member pump/implant on a critical pt on a vent, who we were trying to put a Foley in (catheter wasn't long enough to reach the bladder with an erect member). We knew there was some sort of mechanism in the scrotum and we were all taking turns trying to find some "button" that Google said should exist. Finally, the one male nurse in the room tries and says "I think I got it! Now somebody grab the shaft and squeeze all the fluid out!" (The fluid fills implanted chambers causing the erection). Just then a family member opens the curtain and walks in to a male nurse grabbing their loved one's testicles, a respiratory therapist holding the member, and the rest of us standing around the bed watching and cheering that we've figured it out! Can you say awkward? Haha

Literally laughed out loud!

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Specializes in Emergency/Trauma/Critical Care Nursing.
RobNRN said:
Hahaha wait wait did a doctor really take the time to place member implants for a critical patient on a vent?

Lol he had them prior to becoming critical. The thing I couldn't figure out was how/when it was inflated in the first place. He had come to us from a nursing home, where he had been for five days, sent there from another hospital after being found out in the snow (dementia, wandered away from home) and had severe frost bite to both hands, which were now bandaged up in bulky dressings. And apparently you have to also squeeze the scrotum to inflate the device so... Who in the heck inflated it and how long was it left like that?!?

But yes, it was a very awkward situation indeed lol.

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Too funny Christy, good stuff.

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Specializes in Emergency/Trauma/Critical Care Nursing.

Oh and I meant to add... The patient had restraints on (policy for intubated pts) but I'm sure it only added to the confusion of what we were doing to this person's family member lol

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Walking away from the head of a pts stretcher only to have a cord get caught on the shears in my pants, twisting my ankle when turning to get it, and having my pants come down when I fell, cause the darn shears were still tangled up and I fell AWAY from the monitor. The icing on the cake was having this happen in front of the doctor and all his family, and then having the Alzheimer's pt exclaim, "Honey! Stay down there on your hands and knees and I'll treat you right!" I turned 7 shades of red and couldn't look that doctor in the face for weeks.

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Specializes in school nurse.

While in L/D clinical, I was helping an anesthesia resident put in an epidural by supporting the side lying patient. (She was facing my direction and I was bent over her with one arm behind her knees the other behind her shoulders to help her stay still.) I was looking down at the resident prepping the landmark with betadine, when a long clear "stretchy" booger dripped out of my nose and hung precariously over the sterile site. No one saw, but I sort of "whipped" my head to the side, flinging the mucous around and onto my shoulder, thus saving the day.

The next day I wore a mask.

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Specializes in ER, Addictions, Geriatrics.
Emergent said:
Walking in on a young male patient who was obviously 'pleasuring' himself.

I have become a joke at work because of how many times this has happened to me. It's awful! And not funny at all (except that it really is especially to everyone else)!

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