My best friend's hospital stay

[Akasa]

My best friend was in the hospital again with kidney stones, and the nurse when she went to put in the IV really screwed it up to the point that my best friend was "GET IT OUT GET IT OUT GET IT OUT GET IT OUT GET IT OUT" *reach over yank it out*
Nurse: "Oh did it hurt?"
My best friend cursed up a storm and didn't let her try again.
6 days later her hand is swollen and bruised, like she blew a vein, but when she blows a vein it goes down in a day.

Later on she called the nurses station for something and the nurse didn't hang the phone up all the way and made a comment that it was the bitch(in Spanish) in room 325, then when her husband went to the nurses station and raised hell she had the nerve to lie and say she didn't say it. He was like she can be a bitch, but hang up the phone before you call her one that was really unprofessional.

The charge nurse came in and was shocked to hear it and was like yeah we do have a nurse that uses that phrase. That first nurse didn't come around any more.

[firecat88]

*huge hugs to your friend* Good night. So many unacceptable things going on in this story.

First of all, you do *not* just rip out an IV. Even if it's been put in wrong the first time (which I'm convinced you should always get an anesthesiologist to do IVs anyway. They're better at it than a lot of nurses), you remove the damn thing carefully and slowly. Because, yes, improper placement and removal of those things will leave a baseball-sized bruise. I know this first-hand.


Second, you do *not* badmouth patients behind their backs while you're on the clock. If you want to vent about a patient you disliked, do it at home on your own time. Not at the freakin' desk where someone is definitely going to end up overhearing and it'll come back to bite you in the ass.

Thirdly....calling someone a bitch like it's her fault, rather than owning up to the fact that you're the one who messed up the IV and caused her to be in so much pain? So not right.

[Gawdzillers]

Quoth firecat88

*huge hugs to your friend* Good night. So many unacceptable things going on in this story.

First of all, you do *not* just rip out an IV. Even if it's been put in wrong the first time (which I'm convinced you should always get an anesthesiologist to do IVs anyway. They're better at it than a lot of nurses), you remove the damn thing carefully and slowly. Because, yes, improper placement and removal of those things will leave a baseball-sized bruise. I know this first-hand.

I think her friend's the one that ripped it out, not the nurse.

[DeltaSierra]

Quoth firecat88

*huge hugs to your friend* Good night. So many unacceptable things going on in this story.

First of all, you do *not* just rip out an IV. Even if it's been put in wrong the first time (which I'm convinced you should always get an anesthesiologist to do IVs anyway. They're better at it than a lot of nurses), you remove the damn thing carefully and slowly. Because, yes, improper placement and removal of those things will leave a baseball-sized bruise. I know this first-hand.

Try a mind-boggling THIRTEEN (yes you read that correctly) attempts to get an IV in me the last time I was hospitalized (severe reaction to an antibiotic + dehydration) - they eventually called - you guessed it - the anesthesiologist! He got it on his first try (I'd gone thru 2 phlebotomists, 1 nurse and a resident all attempting before the anesthesiologist was called.) This scares me... I go for a 2-week phlebotomy practical at my local hospital starting May 16!!!

[Akasa]

For the record it was my best friend that took the IV out. Not the nurse.

[jnd4rusty]

I have only had an IV once in my life and they had a hell of a time trying to get it in, they could not "find" my veins so they finally gave me something that, I guess they give to heart attack victims, is supposed to enlarge your veins or something like that. All I know is after they gave me that then it only took one shot at finding a vein. (I detest needles!!!!)

[Sapphire Silk]

Quoth Seshat

Panacea,

It's really interesting to hear these reasons for things. Thank you for being willing to explain them.

My pleasure I figure I'm doing both patient and nurse a favor by helping people understand the whys and wherefores of what we nurses do. If it helps make an encounter with a health care provider satisfactory, or empowers a patient to speak up when they're not, then I figure I'm doing my most important job as a nurse: patient advocate

Quoth jnd4rusty

I have only had an IV once in my life and they had a hell of a time trying to get it in, they could not "find" my veins so they finally gave me something that, I guess they give to heart attack victims, is supposed to enlarge your veins or something like that. All I know is after they gave me that then it only took one shot at finding a vein. (I detest needles!!!!)

Hmm. I'm not sure what that could be . . . I don't know of anything other than heat that is used to enlarge veins.

Sometimes we'll use something call EMLA cream, which is a numbing cream, to reduce pain. It doesn't always work, and has to sit there for 15-20 minutes even when it does work, so I don't like to use it in the ER much. Or sometimes I'll inject a little 1% lidocaine into the soft tissue around a vein to numb the area . . . but that hurts too, so I don't always see the point in bothering.

[pageantmama]

Quoth DeltaSierra

Try a mind-boggling THIRTEEN (yes you read that correctly) attempts to get an IV in me the last time I was hospitalized (severe reaction to an antibiotic + dehydration) - they eventually called - you guessed it - the anesthesiologist! He got it on his first try (I'd gone thru 2 phlebotomists, 1 nurse and a resident all attempting before the anesthesiologist was called.) This scares me... I go for a 2-week phlebotomy practical at my local hospital starting May 16!!!

I have you beat with 17 tries, lol. It always takes at least 5 or more tries and at least 3 people to stick me. I always tell them I am a hard stick and I don't mean any offense but please let someone with experience with hard to hit veins try first. And of course the nurse gets all offended and says she can do it and misses 2 or 3 times and calls someone else in. If they would just listen and not think I am being a meanie. Plus the fact I am scared to death of IV's or getting blood drawn because of a childhood experience with 2 nurses holding me down when I was 7 while another nurse DUG the needle all around my hand trying to hit the vain and then telling me to stop screaming so she could concentrate

Anyway with my pregnancies I had hypermesis really bad. I could not even hold water down so I was in the hospital several times during each pregnancy on IV's getting pumped with fluids and anti nausea meds. I could not hold down the oral meds so they did not do any good. I was in there and of course being a hard stick and dehydrated I warned them and the nurse wanted to try anyway. She tried and I think 4 other nurses tried. It got to the point they blew 3 or 4 veins. Then it got to the point there was a nurse holding each arm while the nurses on either side was trying both arms, wrists, and hands. Poking me at the same time It brought back the memories of me at 7 and I started freaking out. My husband didn't know what to do and was slowly having a panic attack over the situation I think. He left the room to go to the front desk at the ER and tell them what was going on. Finally an administrator came running in and saw the nurses holding my arms with 2 nurses pricking me at the same time and ordered them all out of the room. She brought in another person, not sure what their job was. They gave me something in the mask to help calm me down and slowly tried and got me on their second try. They made a remark it was a miracle I had any veins left after those 4 nurses got ahold of me There were 17 pokes in all including the two the guy did.

The administrator came back in to see me after I was feeling better and told me to fill out a complaint form. I was so relieved about feeling a little better that I was not even thinking about filling a formal complaint. She said she was horrified at how I was treated and she would be taking disciplinary action with the nurses. I told her I even warned them about my veins and they insisted on trying anyway. I was so bruised and sore I looked like someone beat me.

[jedimaster91]

Quoth Panacea

I'd leave the top there and never bring it home. I don't need to glow in the dark.

Eh, it's a 6 hour half-life gamma emitter. Overnight is plenty of time for it to decay to background and the tracer itself is not dangerous. But it is annoying to have to wear stuff from the hospital laundry that's 4 sizes too big.

Quoth Panacea

I like those. They're great . . . no chance at all to stick yourself once you hit the button. They're tricky to use at first though, takes a bit of a learning curve. But once you get used them, they're awesome.

I rarely miss with those. The ones I seem to miss the most often are the butterfly ones (not the infusion/blood draw sets, the actual IV) followed closely by our current crappy, unsafe ones.

[rose_metal_nz]

Worst experience with an IV? Back of my hand, hurt like the devil going in (and I have by the way *fantastic* veins) and then every. single. time. anythign went thru it, it hurt to the point where I was screaming. Another nurse came by & had a look, told me the point was up against the valve? or something? (please correct/inform me here). After it was taken out, it blew up like a balloon, and after weeks and finally getting cream from the doc for it, the vein just.. disappeared I'm not even kidding, it's no longer even visible. All the rest are. I have no idea what causes this or what it means??

... Funny thing (well, horrible thing) happened similar was when I was preg with my daughter, I had to have very regular blood tests, and one time I got a different nurse... Now, I have, as I said, FANTASTIC big veins. They usually take blood from my right inside-of-elbow. First thing this lady did that confused me was go for the left? I even pointed it out... *shrugs* OK, no worries, how bad can it be?

... She put the needle in ACROSS THE VEIN. I don't know the medical terminology here but it was screamingly painful and took a huge amount of time just to get 1 vial of blood - and they needed I think half a dozen. I ended up making them stop after a couple. For the rest of the week, I had rippling bruises going out my whole arm, from fingertip to shoulder. It looked horrific!

But what'd have to take the cake would be when my daughter was in Starship (Childrens' hospital, lovely place actually) to get her tonsils out. Last day, about to leave, and the nurse comes by to take the drip out of her arm. She turns, for JUST ONE MOMENT... And MiniMe rips the whole thing out It was jetting blood like a geyser! The poor nurse went white as a sheet - but managed to sort everything out. Luckily, MiniMe was more concerned about the blood on her shirt than any pain (or the sight of so much blood), but phewwww!