Patients have some crazy requests sometime

[JenBlaze]

Originally posted by Deb in IA


There are not too many husbands who would find the taste of breastmilk appealing . . .

This just totally reminded me of when I had my youngest - she only wanted one side for some reason, and the nurse who was trying to help me finally just looked down and said "Ya know, kid, the other side is chocolate."

Still didn't work, but it was a good try... LOL

 

[KristiKelly]

I've got a question for nurses - when I was in hosp. for both my kids, I was treated GREAT by the nurses, I had 2 c-sections, they helped me get around, learn to breastfeed and so forth, a couple of nights they had an extra meal leftover and would give to dh because we were just so nice . Now to my question, when I was in labor w/#2 and getting ready for c-section, I started feeling very queezy and told my nurse - "I'm gonna be sick", she very calmly reached over and handed me this little blue kidney shaped bowl, I said "what's this?" She replied "Oh, you can get sick in this" Luckily for us both, I didn't get sick - If I had, I would've blown that little thing across the room Why do they give those little things, why not a trash can or something bigger?

 

[Disney Doll]

You know KristiKelly, I've often wondered what the point of those little kidney basins are myself. They are certainly not big enough for anyone to get sick in. I use them to keep the patient's oral care stuff in. If someone has to get sick, I give them the bigger wash basin thing...more like the size of a dishpan. I have also, in a pinch, handed someone a garbage can if it was the closest thing. Hey, any port in a storm, right?

 

[momm2four]

Petesmom, that's terrible. When my oldest (now 8) was put into PICU for eight days and intubated for 6 of those days, I was at the hospital every day for most of the day. I mainly left to sleep. Those nurses were phenominal and never made me feel bad for being there. It seems though the only time I was asked to leave was for shift changes (I think that was it, or maybe it was rounds) and then they would call the waiting room for me to come back in.

Ben was given medication to knock him out and he was also given some meds that paralyzed his entire body so that he wouldn't accidently jerk one of the 9 or 10 tubes/wires going into his body. The nurse on duty was so sweet and even though she knew Ben was out of it and not aware of much, if anything, she brought a TV/VCR into Ben's little PICU cubicle (sp?) and put in a Barney video. I know it was more for me than for Ben, since it gave me something to listen to and focus on while sitting there with my baby waiting for time to pass. Made it a little more normal for me.

Lori P.

 

[goudaman40]

I'll tell you about a couple of my funny stories . . . . . keep in mind I am not a nurse . . . considered nursing, that was until I had stitches taken out of my hands & my nurse made me look at my hands after the bandages were taken off. Well, all it took was one look and I passed out! My hubby got a good laugh & I got a good smell of smelling salt.


The first one was when I was going into surgery for my hands, I had my "happy" shot & was being wheeled into to OR. At that time my nurse asked me if I knew who the man was that was standing at the door of the OR. I replied with "That's Dr. McIntyre - I could never forget those blue eyes!" Yes, I was married for two years & hitting on my doctor on the day of my surgery.

Story number 2 is one that 5 ER nurses got a good laugh from. I had a little too much to drink one night & my breathing slowed down, while my heart began to race. My husband (fiance at the time) and his best friend rushed me to the ER on the advice of the telephone help nurse. My hubby's best friend carries me in and they place me in a room. The nurses come over and begin their assesment and my hubby has now joined us in the room. At that very moment the nurse takes my temp with the ear thingy (first time when they came out 1993) and I look up and exclaim "SHE'S TAKING MY AIR PRESSURE!" At that exact moment my nurse can't help but laugh along with the ER doctor and they place me on Oxygen. Then I say "SEE, I TOLD YOU MY AIR PRESSURE WAS LOW".

There, you have heard my stories about me and I would just like to thank all of the nurses out there for your help.

 

[Disney Doll]

goudaman40, those are great stories!!!!!!! BTW, do you like gouda cheese??? Hence your name??????

I was having a "female" procedure done once, and the docotr gave me an amnesic shot before we started. Basically, it makes oyu not be able to remember anything, you don't feel, or don't remember feeling any pain, but you can still follow instructions if you need to. Anyhow, he gives me the shot, I have the procedure. I'm in the recovery area, and suddenly wake up having to go to the bathroom. My DH and the doctor are standing on either side of the stretcher, so I look up at both of them and say "I have to pee, and who are you people anyway?" Well, my DH darn near had a stroke!!! He thought I was brain-damaged or something, because I didn't recognize him!!! The doctor, meanwhile, was about ready to wet his pants laughing!!!!!!! As were all the nurses in the general vicinity. It took me a minute or so to "register", and then I was fine.

Follow-up...I had the same procedure a couple of months later, and woke up when the anesthesia wore off normally, so that when I awoke, I was alert and oriented from the word go. The docotr said to me "Did you notice you didn't wake up early because you had to pee?" I said I did, and he goes "That's because I catheterized you just before we were done. I didn't think your husband could survive another recovery room incident like last time!"

Smart man!

 

[wilderness01]

Pete's Mom~

I have never heard such a thing. There is not one nurse in our NICU that would ever talk to a patient's mother/father like that. Have we told them not to stimulate/touch the baby while the baby is intubated? You bet. Although the parents like to stroke the infant and think they are helping, actually they are not and it is too much stimulation. You really should have asked for the charge nurse, either at the time or when you went home to explain what happened. I have heard one of our aides be snotty to the parents and she has gotten reprimanded, but never ever have I heard of a nurse having no compassion like that or speaking to anyone like that. I'm sorry for your experience.

 

[goudaman40]

Disney Doll - our user name is actually my hubby's nick name - Gouda - he is also known as Cheeze & I am known as Treeze - my hubby's name evolved to Gouda, because what goes bettern with Gouda, than Treeze.

The other portion of our nickname is my hubby is Uncle Monkey and I am Auntie Treeze, because monkey's "swing" from Trees.



Back to the nursing incident, my hubby had surgery for a blocked uretha, and his wonderful nurses brought in extra blankets and pillows so I could stay the night with him. The surgery was suppose to be Outpatient, but due to excessive bleeding, they kept him overnight. I went out to grab a bite to eat and also brought some ice cream for the nurses that were helping my hubby. I know how cranky he can be when he is sick, so I figured I would have to make up for his "ugly" times while I was away from him.

Again, thanks for being a Nurse!

 

[AZKathy]

Okay, someone wanted something idiotic a nurse did. This is a story about me. It happened this fall. <a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/3/3_2_103.gif' border=0></a>

I scrub in the OR. My specialty is Orthopedic Surgery and I was scrubbing on a Total Hip Arthroplasty. I love these cases. Anyhoo, after one of the implants is placed, sometimes the surgeon feels that a screw or two are needed in that implant. I like to stay ahead and was getting ready for that part of the case; I turned to the surgeon and instead of asking, "Are you going to place a screw?", I just blirted out, "Do you want to screw?" The surgeon is a funny guy that is a lot of fun and I did not live that down for the rest of the case. "OH MY GOD! Kathy, are you propositioning me?" "Woohoo" I was so embarrassed! Even a week later, another surgeon that I scrub for came up to me and teased me about "propositioning" the other surgeon.

See, we can do and say idiotic things, also!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MScott1851]

Yeah, I'm a big foot-in-mouth girl myself.

A little background here: You wouldn't believe some of the stuff people show up to an ER for...stubbed toes from three weeks ago, torn fingernails, papercuts.....I'm serious. Any given night only half our patients are legitimate emergencies. The rest could have went to a minor med, their own doctor, or just slapped a bandaid and neosporin on, for that matter. I try to expedite things and keep things moving, so I will often pull patients like that into my little triage room, get a doctor to see them and send them on their merry way without having to take up a real treatment room in the back.

So last week, I have a stack of earaches, jammed fingers, etc. in my hand, and I bebop back to the nurses station, wave the charts at Dr. Overton, and shout, "Do you want a quickie up front?" over the entire area....Thank god the patients in room 1A had a sense of humor..

 

[Disney Doll]

I was walking along in the local mall when I saw a person who had been a patient on my unit sevral weeks prior. I usually don't make it a habit to say anything to former patients if I meet them in a public place, due to privacy issues. However, this gentleman approached me as I was standing in line and said "I know you from somewhere." I replied, "Yes, I am a nurse at Local Hospital." He then exclaimed, "Of course! I didn't recognize you with clothes on!!!" What he meant was he didn't recognize me in street clothes as opposed to a uniform, which is the only way he knew me.

Need I tell you the looks I got from the rest of the folks standing in THAT line?

 

[laurie31]

I've had a great time reading the funny stories on this post Yes, I'm a nurse and yes I do love my job, but when I read the subject a story instantly popped into my head.

I work with kids and one night it was totally crazy. We were short-staffed and I had the patient load of 2 people. We were all running around trying to get everything done when one of my patient's moms come out with this bag of coffee and says to me, "Will you brew my Starbucks?"

Well, all I could do was just look at her while I convinced my mouth not to voice any of the things I was thinking I'd like to do with her Starbucks. Then I smiled and said yes. Yep, I actuallybrewed the woman's coffee, when I didn't havea prayer of having a meal myself, I was just hoping to get to go to the bathroom in a couple of hours. But I really do feel sorry for the families and she wasn't supposed to know we were so busy, so I did it.

Runner up silly request story - a mother DEMANDED I give her son his cough medication in his IV so he wouldn't have to taste it. I explained nicely (really!) to the woman that we didn't have IV cough syrup. She DEMANDED that I get some. She thought I meant we were out of it or something. So I tried to explain again.There is *no such thing* as IV cough syrup. It doesn't exist. She didn't believe me. I think she maybe watched too much sci-fi or something...she ended up calling her private doctor at home to get this non-existant medication. I guess she believed him. btw, I didn't think this mom was an idiot, nor did I laugh at her, and her son really did feel lousy, but it was just so funny. It was like the "Yes we have no bananas" thing or something. I can't remember how many times I said, "Ma'am, I'm sorry there is no IV cough syrup."

Other funny story (not a silly request):
We do encourage the patients to ambulate (that's get up and walk around ) and they often leave the unit to go to the playroom, cafeteria, whereever. Well, one day while one of the teenaged boys was gone we got a call from the (much taller) building next door, asking if we knew we had a patient up on the roof having...um...well, you know. But no, we didn't know that, thanks for calling. We had to send security up there to break up his little afternoon delight with another patient's mom!


I have been a nurse for 16 years and I could write a book - you couldn't make this stuff up!


On the serious side, someone asked about knowing horrible news and not being able to tell the family. It's devastating. It's all I can do not to start crying looking at the child, knowing what I know and that the parents don't know yet. Also, I am a firm believer in families witnessing codes if they want to. I believe that they are able to accept the death better if they see personally what is meant by "we did everything we could"- when they see 20 staff trying desperately to save their child and who are in tears themselves when it becomes apparent that our efforts are in vain.

Sorry, I meant to be funny and I ended up all sad. I'll think of another funny story and come back later

Laurie

 

[TeresaNJ]

Throughout most of my nursing career I've worked mainly ER and ICU. For a short time I took a position in the OR in the holding area, started iv's, gave preop meds, checked to make sure all the correct paperwork was on the chart, etc. Thought I was ready for something "boring", but after nine months couldn't take the repetitiveness anymore. Anyway, I needed a laparoscopy during that time, and after becoming very friendly with the OR staff, male and female, didn't want any of the guys in on my procedure, so I chose my OR room staff, from the nurse anesthetist to the circulating and scrub nurses, etc, who were all women. My gyn was a male, but he was the fatherly looking type. We have an extremely handsome general surgeon on staff in our hospital, the female patients absolutely "swoon" over him, not to mention the female nursing staff. I can't imagine every having him for my surgeon, as he is just too good looking, and I wouldn't even be able to listen to a word he said, as I'd be too busy staring at him, LOL. So I have my laparoscopy, and while I'm in the recovery room, my gyn tells me they couldn't find my appendix during surgery, so they called Dr Handsome in to look for it. OH MY GOD!!! He saw me butt naked!!! As they were wheeling me to Same Day Surgery to finish recovering, here he comes down the hall, and says to me, "I saw your appendix" in a sing-song voice. All I'm thinking is, "yea, and a whole lot more". To this day I am embarrassed when I see him at work. I know as a professional I realize he sees naked people every day, as do I, but I still cringe at the thought of him being in that room! Do you realize the position you are in while having a laparoscopy??

 

[worm761]

a few stories from a patient....
when i had my DS i gave the nurse a hard time. not intentionally but i was in great pain. my water broke (grossly ruptured) and i wasn't progressing any. they decided to induce. i was in no pain so i didnt want pain meds. well, the pain came. really fast and really bad! i wanted pain meds!!! the nurse was really nice. BUT i couldnt have the pain meds, i was too far. the docs had on gloves and masks and that's it!!! anyway, the nurse kept telling me to breathe~ i told her i KNOW how to breathe i want pain killers!!!! then when the doctor was putting in my stitches (can you say ouch!!) they used novacaine to numb the area. only problem with that is novacaine doesnt work on me. did i mention i delivered at OSU (ohio state university~ a teaching school)? that poor guy kept giving me more novacaine. i told him twice that novacaine doesnt work on me. he didn't believe me. he tried again with the novacaine. finally i sat up and yelled at the doctor, "if you try to give me one more shot, you are gonna swallow my feet!!! just do the stitches!" he put in the stitches after that. i feel soooo bad about that. but i was really good for the rest of my stay. the only other thing i did while there was almost give a nurse a heart attack! she came in to do vitals on DS and couldn't find him. i kept him with me at all times. he was on my bed sleeping with me. when i woke up she was freaking out. she thought he was missing! LOL we both had a good laugh and i apologized for scaring her.

i had a great nurse when i had my gall bladder removed. i had gone into emergency surgery. i was the only young person in the ward. there was this one really hot male nurse that worked the graveyard shift. i was a night owl. when he came in at night he would bring me a pepsi and chat with me when he was free! he also brought me the good pain meds! my room mate was a total trip. i loved that woman!!! but the woman in the room next to me was the patient from HE**. you could hear her yelling at the nurses, doctors, and anyone who dared to walk past her room! i felt so bad for those nurses.

 

[Pete's Mom]

Originally posted by wilderness01
Pete's Mom~

I have never heard such a thing. There is not one nurse in our NICU that would ever talk to a patient's mother/father like that. Have we told them not to stimulate/touch the baby while the baby is intubated? You bet. Although the parents like to stroke the infant and think they are helping, actually they are not and it is too much stimulation. You really should have asked for the charge nurse, either at the time or when you went home to explain what happened. I have heard one of our aides be snotty to the parents and she has gotten reprimanded, but never ever have I heard of a nurse having no compassion like that or speaking to anyone like that. I'm sorry for your experience.

Thank you so much for your kind words. I didn't think that that was the norm in the NICU. I never touched Pete, I was too afraid that I would set off some alarm or cause him to pull out a tube or wire. I knew I couldn't hold him or touch him, but it at least brought me peace to sit next to him and watch him. On a brighter note, some of the other NICU nurses made him cute little cutouts of giraffes and stars with his name on it and decorated his bassinet. I thought that was very sweet of them and still have them in a scrapbook to this day. I can't imagine doing working in a NICU. I know the nurses rotate a lot there to avoid becoming attached to an infant, but still, it's gotta' be hard. God bless them!

Here's a good one on me

Right after Pete was born (before he went to the NICU) he was lying in his bassinet and he started choking on some phlem. Of course, his dad and I looked at each other and started to freak. I picked him up, and started lightly tapping him on the back. NO GOOD! I had this Jamican nurse who came walking in at the same time. I will never forget how she walked right up, flip him over like he was a doll, and whacked him about 4 times on his back. Pete's dad and I looked at each other like, OMG, she's beating our kid! Well, Pete stopped choking and kind of looked up at the nurse like, thanks, I needed that! She handed him back to me, and said as she walked out of the room, don't be afraid to give that baby a few good whacks. I'll never forget her.

 

[Alex]

wow..quite the thread..
I think people have kind of a mistaken impression about nurses anyway... in a lot of hospital's now you have to have a bachelors degree to even get a job. Four years of college to be bleary eyed at 5am as some patient sprays you with bodily fluid.
If you want to blame some one for nurses that are over stressed start with health care costs and insurance companies. Nurses are far more overloaded than they ever were before. I'm not surprised there's a nursing shortage, the work has gotten ridiculous.
If they want to tell a few jokes or blow off a little steam.. hey they have earned it.
As for the "if you don't like it get out" do you think there is a long line of nurses applying for any of these jobs? Not hardly... better a frazzled overworked nurse with a bad attitude than none at all if you happen to need your medication on time.
That is kind of the bottom line. In a lot of hospitals the nurses don't have time do much of anything but pass the meds and take care of emergencies. They don't have the TIME for fluffing your pillow and feeding ice chips even if they wanted to. Everyone has to prioritize at work but when a nurse does it...someone calls them cold and uncaring because they have no choices.
I think a lot of people need to understand the truth.. it is only going to get worse.

Ok a funny hospital story.... I was in the ER.. and they decided to admit me about 4 am. I was at the hospital that I worked at as a paramedic and my DW worked in the ER.
The orderly was off doing something so I looked at the Doc and said "heck I'll just walk up".
None of the nurses were around or they might have had an objection or two
So I grab my IV from the pole, grab my chart, hop on the elevator to the floor I was being admitted too.. A couple of the nurses were there doing paperwork. The looked at me like they were seeing a ghost, totally confused.
I just said "who's the nurse for 1306?". One of the nurses said "I am" so I handed her the chart.. and said "Hi, I'm Alex, I'm your admission" and walked over to the room and got in the bed.
It kind of freaked them out a bit

 

[Puffy2]

I haven't read all of this thread, but as an RN I just wanted to add some thoughts:

1. When most people and their families are in the hospital they are out of their element and often afraid to touch literally anything. If I get a weird request from a family member (could you get me a cup of coffee) I let them know politely where the cafeteria is.

2. Usually these patients are sick. And new moms don't think straight most of the time - If I get an odd request from the patient ("I need my rear wiped" or whatever) and I feel like it's something the patient can do for themselves, I politely explain that they are capable and need to do these things for themselves - I might even hand them the wash cloth, etc....

Some patients can be rather irritating. And some combative. Some demanding. Some rude. Most are scared and it's my job as the healthy, professionally trained person in the room to take care of them and make their hospital stay as painless as possible. That doesn't mean that I am their maid or servant but I am their nurse and I'm capable of calling housekeeping or the nursing assistant or letting a family member know that their loved one needs someone to stay with them for longer periods during the day to help out.

 

[vhoffman]

Well, I've been hospitalized many times and I guess I'm one of those demanding, whiney patients you poor, overworked, underpaid nurses love to gripe about. Here's one for you--I was just coming out of surgery, in the recovery, and needed a drink of water. I had the nerve to ask for a drink--guess I should have gotten up and got it myself. The nurse hands me a can of coke. I then had the nerve to ask her to open it for me. I was told "don't you be asking me to open things for you. You can do it for yourself" Oh, btw, did I mention I had surgery on my hand? What about the time I was again in the recovery room from another surgery and had the nerve to ask the poor, overworked, underpaid nurse for pain medicine? (Why , she wasn't in any pain) I was told very rudely "don't you go asking me for pain medicine. You ask your doctor for that!" I replied through a just-coming-out-of-surgery-stupor "My doctor isn't here. Who am I supposed to ask?' To which this angel of mercy replies that there wasn't an order for pain medicine. I asked if she could call for one and was told that wasn't her job, I could ask my doctor for pain medicine when I saw him. Meanwhile, another nurse overheard this exchange and came over to ask why I couldn't have pain medicine. She then flipped through the chart and the pain medicine order was right there. Oh, and the time I had a knee replacement surgery, there again, in the recovery room, and bothered the poor nurse for a bedpan (I wasn't able to get up) I was told to quit fussing, I could "pee" when I got to my room. I lost control (wonder why) and went on the bed, for which I was told "why didn't I tell someone I had to go?" Yes, I agree, you nurses do get the darndest requests!! I do believe it called "your job" Oh, btw, don't bother with the flames, I won't be checking this thread again. Just brought back happy memories of my great times in the hospital.

 

[aprilgail2]

On the other hand.......I was in the hosptal last month for wieght lose surgery and I had all wonderful nurses and aides!! They were right there when I pushed the call button, pain meds weredelivered as soon as I asked...I went down for tests and was tehre for awhile, I was in pain so they called my nurse and she came dow nto the testing floor and brought my pain meds to me! I do not have one complaint about the nursing staff from my last 3 day visit.

 

[wilderness01]

I question if it was the coming out of his stupor that made VHOFFMAN have those perceptions. Doesn't sound quite right. Maybe some of the comments, but not all. Perhaps you should not continue to go to that hospital with such substandard care.

THAT folks is why I will only work with babies and their appreciative parents who are coherant and know the facts of what actually is happening. These parents (most of the time) are so happy with the nurse that is caring for and loving their baby while they are not around. We do get very attached to some of "our babies" and it is with mixed feelings that we send them home. We do get to see alot of them again as they return at least once a year for our NICU reunion party. Some of the families we have steady contact with and see their kids more often. We must be doing something right!