35 'Real Horrors' of Nursing

Nursing horror has nothing to do with ghosts or chainsaws. These are the scenes you actually dread.

1. Suiting up in full isolation gear for a dressing change and realizing, inside the room, you left your scissors at the nurses’ station.

2. Having feces thrown at you.

3. Missing every IV start on a single shift.

4. The oncoming nurse is late. You stay late.

5. Urine in your shoes.

6. Every call light fires at once.

7. A winter storm traps you onsite after your shift ends.

8. Short staffing.

9. No time for lunch.

10. No time for a bathroom break.

11. A terrible handoff report from the ER on a high-acuity patient.

12. No report from the ER at all.

13. Your patient neglects to mention the three-day alcohol binge.

14. Your NPO patient drinks from the toilet.

15. Joint Commission day.

16. Your confused patient falls again.

17. Family members who stake out the unit.

18. Late lunch trays? Nurse’s fault.

19. Room phone out? Nurse’s fault.

20. MD discontinues IV Dilaudid? Also nurse’s fault, apparently.

21. Patient dies? Nurse’s fault.

22. Equipment fails the moment you actually need it.

23. Pharmacy is late with scheduled meds. Again.

24. Fish in the cafeteria.

25. Paper charting.

26. System crash.

27. GoLYTELY.

28. Head lice, scabies, or bed bugs on admission.

29. Patient transport is understaffed and your patient needs to leave now.

30. Elevators down on a four-floor unit.

31. Code Blue.

32. Code Brown.

33. The walk of shame in the hospital’s spare scrubs after your uniform meets bodily fluids.

34. A GI bleed.

35. C. diff.