Just HOW did you get through nursing school?

[Akasa]

So my best friend went to the ER again. Kidney infection again. Only this time she's got a nurse who is insisting she have a pregnancy test done.
"No. I'm not pregnant. I had a hysterectomy."
"At your age it's always possible"
"NO it's not possible for me to be pregnant. NO PREGNANCY TEST"

She goes for tests, comes back to "OK now lets do the pregnancy test"
"I told you I had a hysterectomy. There's no way I can be pregnant."
"At your age there's always a chance!"
"Not unless there's divine intervention!"

She goes for more tests, comes back to "Now lets do that pregnancy test"
"Do you not know what a hysterectomy is? Go ask someone. I'll wait."

Seriously how the hell did she get through nursing school and not know what a hysterectomy is?!

[Fudgethatkay]

couldn't a nurse be reported for that?

[Sapphire Silk]

couldn't a nurse be reported for that?

I would have complained to the doctor or charge nurse first. Always make sure the "nurse" is actually a nurse. A lot of CNAs call themselves nurses, and the tendency is for them to be the stupid ones. The smart ones usually understand both their limits and enough medical terminology to know that it is virtually impossible to get pregnant after a hysterectomy, even if you still have your ovaries (which most women will keep).

All nursing students get an OB rotation and learn how women get pregnant and what a hysterectomy is . . . it's the most common female surgery after gall bladder.

Someone was just going through the motions, checking off boxes on a list and not using her nugget. If I'd been the nurse my response would have been, "Well, lets not get the Pope's hopes up," and to tell the doctor to cancel the order.

[Fudgethatkay]

All nursing students get an OB rotation and learn how women get pregnant and what a hysterectomy is . . . it's the most common female surgery after gall bladder.

Someone was just going through the motions, checking off boxes on a list and not using her nugget.

But...I knew what a hysterectomy was when I was 10 and how it was impossible to get preggers after...

However, what bothered me more was how PUSHY this nurse was being, without even listening.

Then again, I dunno what happens after complaints to doctors are made...but if this woman kept it up, she shouldn't be in the profession, in my personal opinion...

[wolfie]

I believe it was on these forums (fora? forae?) a couple months ago that someone mentioned a medical "professional" ordering a pregnancy test for a M-to-F transexual - someone who NEVER possessed either ovaries or a uterus.

[kpzra]

I had a nurse who wanted to do one on me, while I was 8 months pregnant and I was there for my cervix to be checked. I had to tell another one that it was that time of the month, then they yelled at me because it had blood in it.

[Hanzoku]

...wat.

Did you at least get a chance to look down, look up and say "You know what, I'm pretty sure I can tell you visually that YES I'M PREGNANT."

[kpzra]

I just asked for someone else. If you are that distracted, I don't want you touching me.

[Sapphire Silk]

I had a nurse who wanted to do one on me, while I was 8 months pregnant and I was there for my cervix to be checked. I had to tell another one that it was that time of the month, then they yelled at me because it had blood in it.

Sorry. I feel better now.

Sweet jeezameez. There's someone who failed a critical thinking check.

If I need to check a urine for pregnancy only, then I don't care if there's menstrual blood in it. It doesn't affect the test.

If I'm checking for hematuria (blood in the urine) then it does matter; I do a "fem cath" to get a sterile sample.

If the woman tells me she's pregnant, I fucking believe her! I might still get a pregnancy test, but just to confirm it medically and get an estimate of how far along she is . . . and even then, only in the first trimester. 8 months? I get out a fetal doppler and listen to the baby's heart rate.

[Crossbow]

Asking once is reading off a form. That pushy is someone that thinks they know more than you. Yeah, time for a new nurse.

Of course, I've had a nurse as ME if there was a chance I could be pregnant. She got about 30 seconds of dumbfounded stare for an answer. Unfortunately, it took her about 35 seconds to realize why I was looking at her that way. At least she apologized profusely.

[Raveni]

They actually tried to bill me some huge amount (like a couple of hundred dollars) for one that was supposedly done on my wife at the hospital. Insurance denied it, so the hospital tried to come after me for the charges. It took me three months and talking to so many different people to get it resolved (mostly because my wife didn't want to talk to anyone about it, and there were a lot of HIPPA forms each time before anyone would talk to me)...

Finally ended up talking to one of the managers there (not sure the title, but obviously someone who doesn't work directly with patients):

MGR: So, I have your records in front of me and they clearly indicate that the procedure was done on the first day your wife was admitted here.
Me: And where was that?
MGR: The hospital.
Me: What part of the hospital?
MGR: It says here, Labor and Delivery.
Me: ...
MGR: ... Sir?
Me: And what was the outcome of my wife's stay?
MGR: Well, you should know! It says here you had a baby boy of 8lb, 7oz after 16 hours of labor.
Me: ...
MGR: ...
Me: And how was my wife admitted?
MGR: It says here that she was admitted in full labor by ambulance.
Me: ...
MGR: ...
Me: Do you still not see the problem here?
MGR: Sir, the problem is that you need to pay for this.
Me: So, are you claiming that your staff was too incompetant to know if my wife was pregnant while she was in full labor and needed a test to find out? Or are you just claiming that this procedure was done regardless of if it was needed? Which one of those is health care fraud?
MGR: ... Ohhhhh..... I think that I understand now...
Me: You think you understand?
MGR: We'll be waiving these charges as a courtesy. (courtesy? WTF?)
MGR: We hope that your wife will choose our hospital again the next time.
Me: It probably also says in her file that my wife had her tubes tied at your hospital. You might want to ask a doctor from another hospital what that means for your chances for a return visit.

EDIT:
I suddenly remember why I also had a vasectomy. With an outpaitent office of a different hospital.

[Fire_on_High]

ordering a pregnancy test for a M-to-F transexual - someone who NEVER possessed either ovaries or a uterus.

Sadly, there's one justification there...if it comes up "positive" that's a marker for a type of cancer. Quick and dirty test...

[Sapphire Silk]

I told the OPs story to my colleagues at work today.

Their jaws dropped.

They didn't get it, either.

I may use this story as an example of how failure to think negatively impacts patients.

[PepperElf]

She goes for more tests, comes back to "Now lets do that pregnancy test"

All I can think of "What part of 'i have no uterus' don't you understand?"

(or substitute "ovaries" if the hysterectomy was a partial)



but seriously, I *failed* out of nursing school and could tell you that you can't get pregnant from sex after the parts have been removed. I mean tubes being tied - ok I've heard of freak cases where that reversed (same for vasectomies) but... I've never heard of a woman regenerating a uterus or her ovaries.



and i don't know how true it was but for a while they had a mixup on medical orders when I was in my military school. The new orders stated that anyone in school who showed up for medical treatment had to get a pregnancy test. Apparently they forgot to designate that it was for females only and they had to waste tests on men until the order was fixed.

[trailerparkmedic]

AI mean tubes being tied - ok I've heard of freak cases where that reversed

Usually pregnancies in women who have had their tubes tied result in ectopic pregnancies, so a positive pregnancy test can indicate that there is an emergency. I did once have a patient who had an intrauterine (regular) pregnancy with tied tubes, though. The med student who was doing the bedside ultrasound was all "Well, let me get the attending because I can't actually be seeing this." The patient was surprised, to say the least.

One of the doctors yesterday INSISTED he needed a pregnancy test on a lesbian. "But she has an STD!" Yes, lesbians can get those too, but they generally don't get pregnant.