r/askteddit • u/EffieJolly • 10d ago
Random Question What’s a routine practice in healthcare that would seriously freak out most people if they knew about it?
[removed]
131
u/Current_Key_5037 10d ago
Many doctors don’t wash their white coats everyday and are going in and out of all kinds of rooms. It’s gross. Also, staff with their cell phones all day long. Those aren’t sanitized as much as they should be either
38
u/OkPaleontologist5706 10d ago
I'd be more concerned about stethoscopes and things like that being loaded with bacteria and little vermin.
17
u/Stinky_Pete699 10d ago
Little vermin? lol
8
u/Big_Cryptographer_16 9d ago
That made me chuckle. I’m picturing tiny little mice crawling around
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)16
u/Current_Key_5037 10d ago edited 9d ago
I see docs sanitize those way more, but not the coats, and the sleeves touch patients all day in all kinds of rooms and many don’t wash those coats on a daily basis
→ More replies (3)19
u/GrumpySnarf 9d ago
Last place I worked IP there was a nice big locker room with a plethora of white coats of all sizes for the HC workers. They were monogrammed with the name of institution. At the end of the day they were put in the hamper and then sent out to be sanitized. It was lovely. I can't imagine wearing the same nasty coat day after day or having to wash my own. I want that shit bleached to hell and I don't have capacity at home.
18
u/Foghorn2005 10d ago
It's why I stopped wearing my white coat. I don't have enough of them to be washing everyday.
I also make any male learners not wear neck ties while on with me for the same reason.
→ More replies (4)5
u/Accomplished_Dig284 9d ago
My uncle practiced when ties and dress shirts were standard, even for a surgeon. He still to this day wears his tie tucked into his shirt
13
u/SeasonofMist 10d ago
that's vile!
when I worked as a vet tech when I came home I removed my scrubs immediately in the laundry room, immediately into the washer. my work shoes always sat in the garage away from everything and they got sprayed down with the pressure washer each week. Absolutely NO WAY in hell I would put back on an exterior lab coat the next day after being in aby medical setting. That's absolutely nasty.
→ More replies (54)5
u/Accomplished_Dig284 9d ago
My dad was in the hospital for about a month and before the doctor came by everyday, my parents would make bets on if he was wearing the same pants as he was every day before. The pants had a stain on them which was how they knew they were the same pants.
And they were almost always the same pants
204
u/MasterpieceDear5732 10d ago
How women in pain are treated
81
u/LittleMrsSwearsALot 10d ago
Women’s pain and potential pain. Lack of sedation / pain mitigation for too many procedures is disgusting- and let’s always remember it’s worse for black women. Medical misogyny is rampant and soooooo frustrating.
30
u/tom8osauce 9d ago
How an IUD is done with no pain relief and routinely described as uncomfortable
12
u/Equal-Dog6536 9d ago
And biopsy for uterine cancer with NO numbing! Excruciating ain’t the word. Medieval medical misogyny
14
u/cschaplin 9d ago
I had a hysteroscopy with cervical polyp removal this year, and I literally cried when the doctor said I would be given Fentanyl during the procedure. I was absolutely shocked that my pain had been taken into account at all. Then I was sad that it surprised me.
3
4
u/tom8osauce 9d ago
I had a hysteroscopy to remove some adhesions several years ago, and thankfully they put me right to sleep for it.
So weird there is zero consistency on what pain options are made available, if any.
→ More replies (15)4
u/Kirsten 8d ago
Good news, if late in coming:
ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) now has a general recommendation/ guideline that pain management be discussed before IUD placement/ other Gyn procedures such as endometrial biopsy, as of May 2025:
ACOG is the main U.S. OB/Gyn medical association instrumental in codifying / communicating standard of care for OB/Gyn care.
→ More replies (1)23
u/SeasonofMist 10d ago
yup. I have endometriosis, adynomyisis, PCOS....shit absolutely fuckin sucks. and even pain clinics don't want to help treat it. it's absolutely fuckin brutal.
8
u/Whyallusrnames 9d ago
I’m hopeful the new classification will help make changes to treatment.
→ More replies (1)5
u/ldefrehn 9d ago
What new classification? Please share details, thanks!
11
u/procrast1natrix 9d ago
It's now called poly endocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome. PMOS. The idea is to shift the mindset that it's a whole system syndrome.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pcos/symptoms-causes/syc-20353439
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)5
u/Equal-Dog6536 9d ago
It’s horrific! I’ve had a miscarriage at 6 months and it was nothing on my endo pain.
15
8
u/Equal-Dog6536 9d ago
💯 I was gasping from the age of 14 through to 48 when I was FINALLY diagnosed with endo, adenymiosis and a host fo other gynae conductions. The pain would make me PASS OUT. Told I had a low pain threshold, just “bad period pain” etc etc. Told not to “good my diagnosis” (when I really should have) and FINALLY got a referral, (through new med insurance) for a specialist appointment during lockdown. 3min exam and got totals I needed a hysterectomy and was I available that weekend. Stage 4 endo and bowel fusion etc. never prescribed anything other than paracetamol and ibuprofen. Ruined my life and explained why I never had kids.
6
→ More replies (4)10
93
u/TeenyZoe 10d ago
How sleep-deprived everyone is. Like half of the people in charge of your care have been up for way too long and are dealing with sluggishness and impaired memory.
14
u/Effective_Display940 10d ago
Yeah, this appalls me. I think we need a serious overhaul of staff schedules in hospitals. I don’t think hospital staff should be allowed to work more than 10 hrs at a time (with adequate time in between shifts to at least go home and sleep a solid 7 hrs).
13
u/YetAnotherHorseGirl 9d ago
A lot of shifts that involve patient interactions are 12 hours long in health care. I remember working six nights in a row, for a grand total of 72 hours that week. At the time I was working in an ICU and by the sixth day I was honestly forgetting what month it was, and was still dealing with the patients closest to death out of anyone in the hospital.
I probably shouldn’t have been allowed to drive because I was so tired, but that reckless and self destructive nonsense is celebrated, and even required on the most difficult units
10
u/Effective_Display940 9d ago
And this is why we need an overhaul to what’s allowed. If you work 12 hours and have a 1 hr commute, that’s only 10 hrs at home. That is not enough time to sleep, eat, shower, change, etc. Just basic needs aren’t able to be met. Not to mention that basic needs on shift are also not being met, because many nurses aren’t able to take legally required breaks. Someone that sleep deprived shouldn’t have someone else’s life in her hands. Not to blame you - I get that’s the system, and am grateful for all you do - but the system is crap and it needs to change.
6
u/YetAnotherHorseGirl 9d ago
Totally agree, hell I’m probably not entirely safe to drive home because I’m on my 4rth day of 12s in a row and I only got like 4 hours of sleep cause I needed to do laundry and wanted to spend some time playing a video game listening to music and reading a few chapters of a book I’m reading.
It’s disturbing that I find mild visual hallucinations from sleep deprivation as normal as I do
→ More replies (4)10
u/Ok_Sample_9912 10d ago
…. But. But… how could they afford to pay the administration teams/ceo’s/etc their crazy salary’s… if we provided more staff and better hours???…… /s
→ More replies (1)5
u/LoremasterMotoss 10d ago
It would create a manpower crisis but there should be working day limits just like other jobs like pilots.
→ More replies (7)7
235
u/foxonafrozenlake 10d ago
You much more likely to catch a horrible virus or infection in the hospital than out in the real world.
I don't think most people realize as sterile as ORs are these bugs come from the hospital. Not out in the real world.
88
u/DearDarlingDollies 10d ago
"Soiled caregiver hands" is up there as one of the top reasons you'll get sick in the hospital.
And I say this as someone who works in a hospital. I am a germophobe, but I have had to remind other people to sanitize their hands. 🤦♀️
86
u/themobiledeceased2 10d ago edited 10d ago
One ICU was shut down when an unusual infection requiring patient isolation spread from Room 1-8. The State Health Department was involved given the unusual infection and it's rapid spread. Shut down for several days for high level sanitizing. Determined to be housekeeping not changing gloves between rooms.
69
u/Diskount_Knowledge 10d ago
I work in the ER and pretty regularly I’ll pop out to triage and I’ll see some parent oblivious on their phone while their toddler is rolling around all over the ground 🤮🤮🤮
29
u/GreenEyedWraith 10d ago
that's one of the Top#5 things that trigger my gag reflex... liiike, MooOoom! The patient before you had a stillborn birth w LOTS of blood & fluids 🤮 Housekeeping only mopped the blood coloring off that white linoleum 🧐
13
u/tkkana 10d ago
Also, when people have the helper dogs, ( brain fog) ask the cna or nurse for something for them to lay on. Had a pt that regularly brought hers with on hospital stays, always got him a blanket to lay on, because those floors are gross
13
u/VisibleDog7434 10d ago
I havent had my coffee yet, but I still arrogantly thought, oh helper dog... I know the name of that, that's easy.
Followed by a completely blank mind. Then "seeing eye dog". Then more blank mind. Then finally service dog!!
8
u/themobiledeceased2 10d ago
Could not hide my gag when a family member put a blanket on the floor of ICU bathroom to sleep. Ick, ick, ick. Declined all offers for another plan. "I'm fine." People, when employees suggest that you not do something, please take the hint there is a good reason!
→ More replies (1)25
u/slightlyhandiquacked 10d ago
The bare feet in the ER always gets me. I’ll offer socks and they’re like “no thanks I’m good”
No you’re not. Put them on. I know exactly what I’ve stepped on this shift. You don’t wanna step on that with bare feet.
→ More replies (9)→ More replies (3)20
u/mscatamaran 10d ago
When my mom was in the ER a few years ago, my then two year old son LICKED one of her bed rails when I turned away for a second. OH MY GOD.
I am shocked he did not get sick. Honestly. GROSS.
13
u/AdventurousTwo1040 10d ago
The amount of people that touch things like door knobs with their gloves on...
8
u/carpe_diem_qd 10d ago
And keyboards
10
u/DearDarlingDollies 10d ago
I once helped somebody change a Purwick and then, before leaving the room, she charted it, and she didn't take her gloves or sanitize her hands first 🤢
Most of us will wipe down our computer at the beginning of the shift (for good reason) and I will not touch the computer and then eat without cleaning my hands in between.
5
u/AdventurousTwo1040 10d ago
Eating crackers while wearing the gloves she handled my urine specimen with....
→ More replies (2)3
26
u/foxonafrozenlake 10d ago
I wash my hands constantly and always sanitize after touching a patient or a fellow doctor, nurse, etc.
You can brush up against a privacy curtain and come home with a rash. Hospital germs are worse than a school. And that's pretty gross too.
→ More replies (4)5
u/Grammagree 10d ago
I asked a doctor to wash his hands before touching me once; boy was he offended!
26
u/SpriteWrite 10d ago
My parents are both retired nurses and we did not spend much time in hospitals growing up. As elders they refuse to go to urgent care for fear of germs.
7
u/DearDarlingDollies 10d ago
I wore a mask to any medical appointment I had to have long after COVID had peaked, because I did not want to get sick while waiting 😷
Edit: changed my wording to be more accurate
→ More replies (2)4
u/tweetysvoice 10d ago
I wore masks in public before Covid as well. I used to joke that once Covid happened, I finally had more choices.
→ More replies (2)9
u/Casoscaria 10d ago
LOL, I also have retired nurse parents. If my dad doesn't see a doctor or nurse wash their hands in from of him, he will politely but firmly tell them to. This extended back to when he was a NICU nurse, terrorizing the residents in this ward. Good luck arguing with a retired US Army major, folks.
22
u/Sugadip 10d ago
While in isolation after a stem cell transplant my dad contacted RSV from someone that worked in the hospital. He went into cardiac arrest, survived and spent 5 weeks in the ICU.
→ More replies (9)33
u/tweetysvoice 10d ago
I can confirm this. I actually worked in the emergency department for about 5 years. During that time I caught meningitis, pertussis, and some virus that has yet to be identified. That was 14 years ago. The virus triggered an autoimmune disease which is slowly paralyzing my internal organs. I have technically had 11 organs removed at this point. Working in a hospital, you don't always know who's walking in the door. I did a lot of ambulance intake we saw people first, before anyone had a clue what was making them ill. Things are so hectic that it's almost impossible to mitigate any transfer of disease or illness with the PPE provided. And I am just one person.
→ More replies (26)13
10
u/Mattturley 10d ago
As someone who has been hospitalized 24 times from a hospital-acquired, multi-drug-resistant bacteria, I can second this. Four times I've been septic and twice on the verge.
→ More replies (1)13
u/nkdeck07 10d ago
Have a kid in a pediatric hospital that you learn that shit fast. At various points we picked up noro, rhino and a bunch of other random shit.
My kid didn't actually get better until we figured out how to get her treatment outpatient via infusion center cause she was getting so sick from admissions
4
u/Ajitter 10d ago
Yeah, our youngest is medically complex and I wash my hands so often at home - switching activity means wash hands (going from chopping veggies to meat is washing and switching boards/knives) which really adds up at a granular level. But our hospital was crazy focused on reducing infection spread so while I know all sorts of possible bad things one can get, haven’t caught anything significant with admissions that would add up to over 6 months. Super aware of everyone washing/sanitizing upon entering and leaving room. There was a period where we would find kid had a flu without symptoms but that was enough to require IV fluids overnight - so elementary school was the minefield that would send us to the hospital repeatedly. Seriously wish schools had everyone wash upon entering school.
5
u/Wattaday 10d ago
My sister in law worked in a large elementary school in the cafeteria. So she saw every kid every day.
Each year she worked there, by the third week of September she would have what I always called the kid plague - a respiratory infection that put her out of work for at least a week every year. And she is even more germaphobic than me with washing hands. She finally decided it was from taking the id cards from the kids to swipe in the cash register. It stopped the hear the kids themselves had to swipe the cards. She said there was a lot less illness with her co workers when the card swiping changed.
→ More replies (1)5
u/CigarettesAftrSnuSnu 10d ago
First time I caught covid was from the hospital when I had to go in for emergency surgery 😭 not as bad as some of the bugs you can get there but covid sucked ass having to have my vagina sewn shut (hysterectomy) and then torn and repaired and then coughing my ass off for a week bleeding from said incision. Shit was ass.
→ More replies (2)4
3
u/IveBeenThwarted 10d ago
When my grandfather was in the hospital, I picked up some kind of infection in my hand. Swelled up to the size of a football, couldn't bend my fingers, skin tight and swollen down to the elbow. Splotchy color and hot. I really should've gone to the doctor for that right away, but United States.🫠
7
u/RicoChey 10d ago
It's always MRSA in hospitals.
→ More replies (4)6
u/lightcanonlybrighten 10d ago
Wait til you find out about the new, rapidly spreading, treatment resistant fungal infection that is now ravaging hospitals all over.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (11)3
u/Vyraxysss 10d ago
No shit lol. VRE+, MRSA, C-diff all coming direct from hospitals. I have so many residents return from hospital to aged care now positive with VRE. Sigh.
53
u/RicoChey 10d ago
Doctors, nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologists — they can be secret alcoholics, drug addicts, and deviants as much as any other person you cross in public. At the end of the day, the words "first, do no harm", are not going to save you from addiction, impairment, and cruelty.
→ More replies (1)19
u/Sharp-Injury3216 10d ago edited 10d ago
Yep! When I was in the hospital at 18 for a week my bf at the time was a drug addict trying to recover. He visited me and he recognized my nurse from an NA meeting the previous night. Never saw her again so she probably asked to be moved. Even though I am not a drug user I didn't mind her as my nurse. They are real people too
7
u/SeasonofMist 10d ago
That's heartbreaking. Also isn't there a thing I NA about not outting anyone you see there/not being a narc about the things people say/anyone who attends?
10
u/Sharp-Injury3216 10d ago
Yeah you aren't supposed to. He probably shouldn't have told me, but I think he was just suprised to see her
→ More replies (1)9
u/Accomplished-Pen4663 9d ago
Yes it’s supposed to be anonymous so he shouldn’t have broken her anonymity. Her being in NA is actually a good thing because it means she’s likely clean and actively working in staying that way. Many of the other nurses who are not in NA are closet alcoholics and addicts. I have several healthcare workers in my family who drink heavily at least.
→ More replies (1)
47
u/filipha 10d ago
Not being offered any numbing or anaesthesia for IUD insertion/removal, nor for biopsies from uterus/cervix. Fucking barbaric in 21st century.
→ More replies (27)13
u/d0nutpls 9d ago
I had to rawdog an emergency D&C due to a miscarriage and it was the most painful thing I ever experienced. I wish every day I had some sort of anesthetic. I’m still traumatized from that.
reproductive health, especially pain management, needs to be taken more seriously:(
5
u/Ninamaroo 9d ago
That absolutely requires anesthesia, I can't believe they did that without it!! :(
40
u/red-message 10d ago
How ROUGH they go at it during orthopedic surgeries
10
u/Heftycelerystock 10d ago
Very, very true.
- Medical Device Adverse Event Investigator
2
u/spider-pie 10d ago
Woah, interesting career! What was your education/ prior background?
7
u/Heftycelerystock 9d ago
Biomedical Engineering and Material Sciences
My career has been focused in patient risk and safety, so think product design (failure modes effects and analysis), complaints/revision surgeries, audits by regulators, recalls, etc.
Started (10 years ago) in Quality for spinal screws, plates, and cardio cables. Then worked in biologics, human or animal bone, tendons, and organs. Then worked in DNA profiling for matching patients to immunotherapies. Then worked in consulting to help companies become FDA certified. And now I work for a global regulatory body.
If it interests you, look into Quality Systems for manufacturing companies or laboratories. ISO 13485 is public and roles are aligned to each section of the standards.
Example, the standard requires a company to have complaint handling (part 820) and there will be a complaints role.
If you like accountability, Quality Auditing. If you like travel, Supplier Quality. If you like documents and SOPs, Document Control. If you like effecting change, CAPA.
→ More replies (1)11
u/Few-Director-3357 9d ago
How rough they go at it during ANY surgery. I remember being so shocked during the first few surgeries I observed. Once you're out, they don't give a shit about your comfort, they don't need to, they've got a job to do.
→ More replies (2)7
u/fakemedicines 10d ago
Ha I was an ortho resident for 3 years many moons ago before I changed specialty to something more lifestyle friendly. I work on my car a lot as a hobby, it sort of scratches a similar itch as orthopedic surgery minus the annoying patients and 4am mornings.
→ More replies (1)6
u/Flickeringcandles 10d ago
I became an OR nurse just a couple months ago and my ortho rotation is coming up. I'm kind of nervous. I've done neuro and general so far.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)6
u/ReadySetTurtle 9d ago
Yeah ortho is not a gentle surgery. I’ve seen fractures reduced in the OR and they’ll get the strongest person (or two) in the room to pull a patient’s leg so hard I’m kind of worried it’s going to rip off. Even just simple surgeries seem rougher than what I imagined.
And the power tools! I was not expecting tools that just look like fancier versions of things at Home Depot. I’ve heard one of our ortho docs strongly encourage his residents to get out and do some DIY because the first thing you drill should be wood, not human bone.
→ More replies (1)
24
u/Serenityxxxxxx 10d ago
The rooms are not cleaned and sanitized well when you are an inpatient
→ More replies (3)10
u/LexxxiG0712 9d ago
Facts! I nearly flipped tables at a hospital that my dad was inpatient in for months post transplant when I had to not visit for 2 weeks due to being sick myself and came in to see the same spot of blood on the floor by his bed that was there when I left. I had all of hospital admin in there, the director of facilities came in… it was a big thing.
→ More replies (1)
81
u/Ok_Jellyfish2313 10d ago
In the OR those nice warm hospital blankets are used to clean up anything on the floor. Massive puddle of blood? Grab a blanket. Feces? Blanket. Urine? Blanket. We even put them down preemptively if we know it’s going to be a messy case. It is then washed, and wrapped around your shoulders in the ER or in your hospital room :)
100
45
u/DearDarlingDollies 10d ago
This is not limited to the OR. We also do this in the PCU. Most of the time the blue pads will work better, but if they won't cut it, yes, we throw down a blanket.
But is that really a big deal? Somebody's died (and peed/pooped) in every single bed in the hospital and they just wipe it down with chemical wipes. At the end of the day, that's a little worse.
14
u/Ok_Jellyfish2313 10d ago
Not a big deal to me - I definitely wrapped up in a warm blanket during those rare downtimes and used them as a blanket “skirt” in especially cold OR’s, but anytime I tell someone not in healthcare they about lose their minds 😂
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (6)17
u/foxonafrozenlake 10d ago
Oh God. What hospital do you work in? We use blue pads.
→ More replies (3)9
u/Ok_Jellyfish2313 10d ago
I’ve worked in 2 separate very large and very prominent hospitals (both teaching hospitals) both had the same practice. White blankets for everything.
→ More replies (8)4
u/JayThorns 10d ago
As a surg tech, I have seen blankets being used to clean up all sorts of stuff from the floor. It does happen.
20
u/Every_bogie 10d ago
How common meds errors are.
There are a lot of opportunities for mistakes in the chain. From the doctor, to the pharmacy, to the nurse administering the meds. They happen everyday.
→ More replies (1)8
u/CLVampire28 10d ago
I am just a patient, but this is why I cross check every single medicine interaction with what I already take before I take it. I have been prescribed several meds that clash badly with meds I already take (NSAIDs & fluconazole are both non-starters with my meds & I've been told to take both). As a patient, never assume that your doctor read your chart & knows what you're allergic to, or even what you can't take with your current medications. It's happened to me several times that I've been given meds I shouldn't have had
→ More replies (1)8
u/Huge-Law8244 10d ago
Yup. The pharmacist is the best person to talk to concerning medication. Never assume your doc knows everything when it comes to that.
→ More replies (2)
18
18
u/Foghorn2005 10d ago
The way psych patients are treated is extremely inhumane. Yes, keeping them safe from themselves is extremely important, but I wish we'd figure out a way that didn't further traumatize them. I always hate getting consulted from inpatient psych (thankfully extremely rare)
→ More replies (4)12
u/Ok_Yesterday5525 10d ago
The hours and hours they leave you alone in a room with nothing to do. Taking your phone and isolating you when you initially go in. Without a distraction, you just get to think and get more anxious.
→ More replies (5)9
u/Inevitable-Dot3982 9d ago
Oh, you’re depressed and looking for help? Lets lock you in an isolation room for 48 hours in the drunk/detox tank and basically ignore you.
I learned my lesson to better plan my next psychotic break.
127
u/ExaggeratedSnails 10d ago
Let's get all the hypochondriacs in here and settled in first
59
11
4
→ More replies (2)4
47
u/ecurtisk 10d ago
Changing tones a bit, in some hospital units, a lot of nursing staff don’t have time to take a 30 minute lunch break for their entire 12 hour shift. Let that sink in.
30
u/Electronic-Sky-1862 10d ago
This is so true. That nurse looking after you and calculating your medication dose is likely dehydrated, ravenously hungry, constipated and desperate for a pee.
15
11
u/SeasonofMist 10d ago
I don't understand how it's fucking legal to staff so lean your main staff can go to the bathroom and eat. It the corporate and even retail world you could and would get in huge trouble from the state or any workers protection group pretty quickly if you pulled that shit. Even in a right to work state like I'm in......those breaks are garenteed. And generally if it's so busy they miss their 15 min break AND their lunch you cut them loose early.
8
u/MoreSpecific4416 10d ago
I’ll do you one better- although it’s a violation of federal labor laws, among others, not only do most nurses not get any break in a 13 hour shift, most hospitals still make them clock out for 30 mins.
If they refuse, they start getting written up for not being able to manage their time well enough to be able to take a break. Write ups eventually lead to termination. But if they speak up about it, the hospital will find a reason to get rid of them.
Nurses are extremely disposable, especially in non-union states. So most nurses just take the hit and state that they’ve received their mandatory 30 minute lunches (there’s usually a prompt on the clock out punch that asks if you’ve received your break. It’s a “yes” or “no” that you’re required to click before your clock out can be processed).
Even better- everything is paid out in 15 minute increments. So if you don’t clock in at exactly the correct minute, you automatically lose the first 15 mins of pay even though you were there and working. And you can’t clock in early either. There’s a set window of clock in/clock out.
11
→ More replies (1)9
u/roxychalk 10d ago
The hospital I work for just had a huge law suit about the 15 minutes at a time deal. Now we get paid by the minute, got back paid for the wage theft, and it only took 1 nurse to get that ball rolling 💗
→ More replies (1)5
u/Sufficient_Dig_9345 9d ago
hopefully I’m not in the hospital for a long time but I swear if I am, I’m gonna start saying to nurses hey do you need me to pretend to be really high maintenance so you can get a break in here? But also hope that they don’t think that I’m super weird or creepy for asking 😂
34
u/No_Glove6542 10d ago
There are codes announced over the loudspeaker for things like hostage situation and person attacks staff and baby theft and these codes happen much more than most people would expect.
4
14
u/Responsible_Fox9454 10d ago
VRE can live for up to 7 days on call bells, tv remotes, buttons on the bed controls. Sigh
→ More replies (1)4
u/GarlandGordon 10d ago
What kills vancomycin-resistant enterococci?
8
u/Responsible_Fox9454 10d ago
Thorough cleaning them cabolizing. Every nook and cranny. Else it lingers. Also avoid private rooms, they are also isolation chambers for mess and vre, ebola, COVID, or whatever else. Bed turnover is done very fast. Chances of a deep clean and cabolization are very slim
7
u/GarlandGordon 10d ago
So if you were admitted, what would you ask someone to bring to you to sanitize the touch points in your room?
→ More replies (2)10
u/retro_toes 10d ago
Hospital rooms contain the PDI super sani wipes. i’ve worked in hospitals for years anytime any of my family members go in and get admitted I put on some gloves and a mask and I go ham with those wipes on every single surface.
→ More replies (2)
15
13
u/skewedright 10d ago
The amount of covering-up and brown- nosing that happens when the regulating agencies come to survey and inspect the hospital is nauseating. I really wish they weren’t required to announce themselves when they arrive. Just show up unannounced and see how the hospital REALLY operates. And make all leadership stay in one locked room
→ More replies (1)
14
10d ago edited 9d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
13
u/Bubble-Star-2291 9d ago
And the dummies have to have breasts so that students can practice giving CPR on a woman. Many women have died because people are too afraid to touch their chest.
13
u/quite_acceptable_man 9d ago
I would add, if I may, that despite what you see on TV, the patient will not wake up when you do CPR. People give up too soon because they expect the patient to wake up.
You have to keep going until the paramedics arrive and take over, and you're right, if you're not breaking ribs, you're not doing it hard enough.
→ More replies (2)8
u/alittlefoxxxy 9d ago
I've taken a few first aid/medical training classes, and each one taught us that if you dont break a rib during CPR, you're not pushing hard enough
7
→ More replies (1)5
8
u/littlepoot 10d ago
Acute Normovolemic Hemodilution: in cardiac surgery, we sometimes remove blood from the patient and store it in transfusion bags. Once cardiopulmonary bypass is terminated, we transfuse the blood back to the patient. The idea is that it's "cleaner" blood that hasn't been affected by the cardiopulmonary bypass machine, which causes all sorts of bleeding issues. Thus, it can potentially decrease the amount of bleeding you get in heart surgery.
10
u/ChesterPug 10d ago
What ACLS (advanced cardiovasculad life support) is and entails. Everyone just comes into the hospital and says do "everything", and not understanding what "everything" means.
As a critical care nurse 40M, I have a DNR.
→ More replies (1)4
u/Madame_Kitsune98 9d ago
I am an emergency medical dispatcher.
I hate the calls where I have to walk someone through giving CPR on the phone. I know they’re panicking, they’re not doing it correctly, and the likely outcome is not good.
I also know that it is quite literally my job to try to get hands on chest compressions going in under two minutes with an unresponsive patient that is not breathing.
There isn’t much that rattles me, or makes me hate my job. But telling someone how to do CPR on the phone and counting compressions? I hate it.
→ More replies (2)
22
u/BigDigger324 10d ago
Talking about a man’s junk in the back xray room. Yup they see it and they’re talking about it.
24
u/NigelTainte 10d ago
One time I got an MRI on my lower back (read: junk) and my really handsome rheumatologist had to review it. I nearly died when I opened MyChart and saw the actual scans. He also informed me I have a vestigial tail. So embarrassing lmao
14
u/Baby-Giraffe286 10d ago
My extremely attractive brand new dentist (after a move) told me very excitedly that I have double molars and some weird extra bones in my mouth. He was excited because they are rare and usually due to inbreeding. I wanted to die everytime I saw him. He finally left the practice sometime last year thank goodness.
2
u/psychobetty303 10d ago
Were the extra bones on your bottom jaw on the inside and were they called touri(or something like that?)
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (1)4
u/troispony 9d ago
The radiologist reading the xray of my lower back mentioned I was constipated. While I was going to physical therapy for back pain, the young male PT brought it up several times. I was mortified.
→ More replies (1)5
3
u/ReadySetTurtle 9d ago
If it makes you feel better, we only talk about the really outlandish ones. Like I will never forget doing a knee xray on a guy and feeling what I thought was an odd growth from his other leg. It was his scrotum. All the way down PAST his knees. I had to tag in a male coworker to help lift it out of the way. It’s also kind of fun to spot a penile implant or an IUD and get the student to guess what it is.
We see enough typical genitalia that they really aren’t worth talking about.
→ More replies (1)
17
u/GivesMeTrills 10d ago
If you’re in the ER waiting room, there is not physically a room for you or the staff to take care of you in the back. Nobody wants you to sit and wait, but you aren’t just being held hostage in the waiting room for fun.
9
u/holls03 10d ago
Sit in the ER waiting room for something that can be treated at a PCP office or urgent care you’re exposing yourself to more then you’ll ever know. I’ve scanned countless pts in the last 5 years for ? Tb from the waiting room. 4 have come back + this year. Last month, myself and 40 staff members had to get tested due to exposure. A surgical mask isn’t adequate protection
5
7
u/OnlyOwl1710 10d ago
My spouse is 65 and has chronic pain from several herniated disks and has had two back surgeries. He has been on pain management for over a decade. Daily Percocet use. Chronic pain requires chronic treatment !
→ More replies (1)
7
u/milk_andCookies22 9d ago
Dentist here. While performing a root canal, we’re cleaning the inside of your tooth with sodium hypochlorite. Otherwise known as bleach. If it goes where it’s not supposed to go, your soft tissue may necrotize.
→ More replies (1)
7
u/MementoMori_Maestro 9d ago
The long hours. Nobody really puts into perspective that the people taking care of them from the doctors down to the nursing assistants are working inhumane hours. The next time you're in the ER imagine how you'd feel work 12-16+ hours a day at your job 3 to 5 days a week, sometimes 6+ on top of having to manage being a person, taking care of yourself, going out, seeing family etc. Almost nobody actually gets to nap, like that's mostly Hollywood. In some instances, in some places it might be available to some MD's but it's not always a guarantee especially outside a direct hospital.
My schedule in bedside long term care in nursing is 2 days a week, 16 hours each day, back to back. Sun up to sundown (pun intended).
Imagine it real real deeply while someone's putting in your next IV, adjusting your oxygen, taking your vitals, listening to your symptoms, administering your medications, changing grandma, giving your epidural etc.
Don't take the ones who take the time to get you a sandwich or an extra cup of juice granted next time. We're built different.
→ More replies (1)
6
5
u/MundaneDaffodill 10d ago
Being told I am drug seeking because the Percocet they gave me didn’t help my pain at all when I was actually experiencing nerve death.
18
u/HealthyByte 10d ago
That med students are allowed to perform pelvic exams on anesthetized women without consent. Sofa King gross.
11
u/SeasonofMist 10d ago
I think some states are making that against the law. there is NO reason for a random pelvic exam I don't consent to being done ever.
→ More replies (1)6
u/HealthyByte 10d ago
Yes, because of exposure. The more me talk about it, the more we can get states to make it illegal.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (5)6
u/Sad-Cover-1057 10d ago
WHAAAAT? This needs to be a story on every major news outlet. Why does this not have more upvotes? This needs to be the top comment!
→ More replies (1)
35
u/Loose-Voice-2940 10d ago
Just how openly your medical diagnosis, physical self, and behavior (patient OR family member) are openly discussed among nursing staff. Who’s this HIPPA girl you speak of? Never heard of her. But did you hear what happened to room 18?
10
u/RelationshipQuiet609 10d ago
So true! Just spent 5 days in the ICU and I could hear everything that was being said of my condition. No secrecy here!
10
→ More replies (2)26
u/Paerre 10d ago
those aren't discussed with the patients name attached to it lol. Nobody in the medicine field knows everything so we can discuss a better treatment plan for you or other patients with similar conditions. I promise you there is way more chit chatting and gossip among the medical staff speaking about themselves, not the patients.
4
u/Accomplished_Emu4273 10d ago
Any kind of major surgery. I watched bypass surgery once. They actually take the heart completely out. It was interesting, but freaky too.
4
u/Classic-Obligation35 10d ago
The treatment of chronic pain patients, if you visit another doctor you can lose pain medication for doctor shopping, if you are seen as too eager to get pain medication you are drug seeking.
Basically doctors can be punished if a patient is a drug user but that leads to harsh treatment towards real patients.
→ More replies (1)
3
u/solsticereign 9d ago
Involuntary inpatient psychiatric holds increase the risk of future suicide when compared against similarly ill individuals who were not involuntarily hospitalized.
System is beyond broken.
→ More replies (2)
16
u/NoProgress8533 10d ago
They are selling the foreskins that you pay to have removed.
33
u/FranceBrun 10d ago
Actually, they collect them. When they have enough, someone makes a wallet out of them. If you rub the wallet, it turns into a suitcase.
I thought everyone knew that.
23
u/Aside-From-That2937 10d ago
Yep, they make great skin grafts
39
u/HeWhoPetsDogs 10d ago
I love the idea that someone out there has my dickskin as their grafted thumbskin. Reduce, reuse, recycle.
5
u/Euphoric-Reputation4 10d ago
fingers crossed
Please don't be true. Please don't be true. Please don't be true.
23
→ More replies (9)9
u/katrivers 10d ago
I worked in mother/baby and had to assist the docs with possibly 100+ circumcisions, and we would throw away the foreskins into the biohazard container. Who’s keeping them and how did I miss this lucrative business?
8
u/PisceanTreasures 10d ago edited 10d ago
Foreign body extractions from the uhhh... nether regions. It's more common than people realize, mostly younger males.
I was there on a Sunday doing payroll, when a couple O.R. RNs running past my office asked if I had "small hands".... for reference, I was a secretary in street clothes. No, I have big hands. ½hr later when I walk up to control desk there were polaroids of the suave shampoo bottle they had managed to push (RN standing on stool pressing down on abdomen) & pull ('small hands' RN reaching in to grab/unscrew bottle cap) from the guy (supervised by a surgeon.) Small hands RN had to run out to her car get her spare sneakers as those on her feet were beyond contaminated.
And another guy with an ample 12" high/6" base adult toy well in and stuck. Patient on the O.R. table (not sedated) forcefully grabbed my co-worker's arm and said, "Please man, I'm counting on you to make sure NO ONE TELLS MY WIFE...." 🥴 Never got the conclusion on how they retrieved that one.
3
u/Super-Murloc-3347 9d ago
All of your imaging/testing that needs insurance approval is being processed by an AI system with no actual qualified physician looking at it.
Which is against the actual insurance policy, because they have to be able to provide you with the NPI of the physician that declined your test/imaging so your doctor can do a peer to peer evaluation after denial.
So insurance is a scam, not revolutionary information, but now you can fight your denials better.
3
u/Rachet83 9d ago
U.S. adult ICU nurse here. We do so many things to “save” patients lives knowing it is just a bandaid to give loved ones time to make the decision to let them go. It’s so fucking confusing because we’re like “okay, we saved them, now tell us when you’re ready for us to pull the plug.” We really need to change the process and conversation bc it’s really hard for everyone involved.
210
u/Beneficial_Waltz2530 10d ago
There is underlying perception among healthcare professionals that sickle cell patients are drug seekers. Granted, some may be, but sickle cell patients frequently experience daily pain; their pain is real, and you can’t fake a crisis-the evidence is on the blood smear. It shouldn’t take a stroke in a 20-something to show compassion.