“On My Shift, I Saw…” | International nurses Association

Nurses that work in the emergency department know to expect the unexpected.  Also, to never say, it's very calm tonight, it's almost as if you jinx yourself with that statement.  Several nurses share their stories of things they have encountered in the emergency room, that made them do a double take.

Humans can get parasites/worms. Nurses know this and are trained not to be squeamish in case of such an event.  However, this nurse saw a first in regards to worms.  A homeless woman came into the emergency department after passing out.  She had an obviously terrible cough with a suspected condition of pneumonia.  The nurse was helping to clean the patient up, being very sympathetic to her circumstances.  The patient advised the nurse that she sold worms to the local bait shop, which the nurse was impressed with, she certainly had initiative.  As the nurse bed bathed the patient, the patient spoke up and said to leave her right side untouched. Without extensive details, the woman had injured her side several years prior, and without proper medical care, it healed leaving an open gap.  The patient had a nice supply of earthworms tucked securely away in this folded area of her skin.  The nurse was, to say the least, shocked.  The physician called for social workers and psychiatrist to work with the patient.  The nurse later learned the woman still collected and sold worms, however, she now did so using a proper container.  

Boys will be boys as one nurse said when she treated a patient that literally blew up his buttocks.  It was Independence Day and the emergency room always has an increase in patients, firework safety is not over utilized.  Some college kids decided they would attempt lighting a firecracker, actually a shooting rocket from one of the young men's buttocks.  Convinced it would simply shoot up causing no damage at the take off site.  Wrong!  The guys were shocked to learn that 30% of flying rocket fireworks, do not take off, they fail.  This was, in fact, the case here, and the young man suffered third-degree burns and internal damage. 

Resource:-Healthy Snacks For Work

Christmas is usually a happy time, however, as one man learned, be careful when volunteering for a part in a Christmas play.  He thought taking on the part of a well decorated Christmas tree seemed pretty simple.  He visited his mom's attic and got string after string of Christmas lights, and his wife and kids helped wrap him up so that he would be the best lit tree ever.  As the play began to start, the man was plunged into an extension cord and shined brightly.  The problem was, these lights were not new, in fact, they were quite old, and they heated up quickly.  Before he realized the problem, his skin was burning.  People ran to help, unplugging the cord, however, the man was trying to get the lights off quickly and caused them to tangle to the point they could not get them off as he squirmed in pain.  Paramedics cut the lights off while in route to the hospital, however, not before the injuries occurred.  He had hundreds of severe burns on an exposed area of skin, and his clothing fabric melted in some areas, into his skin.  In addition, while he attempted to remove the lights, several broke causing the shattered glass to be embedded into his skin.  A 9-day hospital stay got the patient home just in time for Christmas. 

A man came into the emergency room yelling his friend needed help.  The nurse went to assist and could not believe what he saw.  A group had gathered and after a few drinks decided to see who could jump over the deer head that was removed from the wall.  One poor soul missed, ramming the horn directly through his inner thigh, ouch.  Fortunately, the main artery was not hit, however, it was an only ¼ inch away from doing so.  Surgeons successfully removed the very large deer head, after cutting the horn from the head, much to the owner's dissatisfaction. 

What can you say? You never know what a nurse might see.  

Related:- International Nurses Association

Sponsor Ads

• Ad Space Available - Rent it Now!

Report this Page

Created on Aug 29th 2017 05:48. Viewed 648 times.

Share on APSense

Comments