Twenty Three

Twice in one career is enough.

I mentioned back in entry twenty one what I thought was a once in a lifetime/career occurrence. Female pt openly urinating in the middle of the hall in front of anyone who cared to see or not see. I honestly thought I would never see this type of thing ever again.

As in many things in my life I was wrong about that too. Lightening can strike in the same place twice.

Female mental health pt waiting for transport to the psych unit needs to urinate. I happily escort her to bathroom. Unfortunately in urban ER this bathroom is out of order. So we walk to the next bathroom about 20 feet away. This being an urban ER it too is out of order. So I say "Hey, there is another bathroom around the corner about 30 feet away, I think we can make it." By now this pt has gotten irritated over this inconvenience and screams "I AIN'T GONNA WALK NO WHERE ELSE I AM GONNA PISS RIGHT HERE!"

And she did.

This got a "Awww.... you gotta be kidding me." from the the ol' CERT (Crusty ER Tech) and then the comment "So do you need toilet paper to wipe with, you know you should wash your hands." 

Folks were mortified. Instead of face palming I chose to bridge pinch.

I just walked her ass back on the stretcher and made the appropriate note with the above details in her chart. At least after she pissed in the middle of the hallway in front of everyone she was in a better mood.

So goes another shift for the Crusty ER Tech.