Not everyone is cut out to be a doctor. In fact, only about 41% of medical school applicants are even accepted. But there’s a good reason why this field is so competitive. In most other jobs, small mishaps are understandable, and they can be seen as learning experiences. However, when you’re taking care of a patient, any mistake might cost them their life.
Doctors and surgeons have been opening up on Reddit about the most terrifying “Oh no!” moments they’ve had on the job. From realizing that a patient lied about eating breakfast to nearly dropping a newborn, this list is full of reminders that not even surgeons are superhuman. Good luck getting through this list without increasing your heart rate significantly. And be sure to upvote the stories that give you an even greater appreciation for all of the wonderful doctors you’ve had!
#41
Not a surgeon but when I was in nursing school I was observing a tonsillectomy when the power went out. Everything switched over to the backup generators except for the suction which is incredibly important for any surgery but particularly in the throat (aspiration risk). They ended up having to connect a giant syringe to a length of suction tubing to suction manually while someone went to the other side of the building to find portable suction. Luckily ours was the only theatre that had started operating that morning!
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11points
#42
Pharmacy student here. Wait what? Yeah, I didn't do it. I saved the lady.
I was on rotations, we had a lady who was taking VERY high doses of Oxycontin (roughly 240mg a DAY) for pain. I don't remember what it was related to, she had a laundry list for her PMH. Let's go with cancer, remission (to give life a good outlook). She is admitted to the general floor with altered mental status. She was out of it. Major side effect of opiates = altered mental status. Okay. No big deal, get the o****d out of there and the patient will probably come to.
Under my care (with my preceptor), the nurses on the floor had to use Naloxone on the patient. This hospital doesn't f**k around with pain control. Naloxone (or Narcan) is an o****d reversal agent. It wakes you up when you have too much that it is negatively affecting your chances at living (such as respiratory depression). Patient is taken off her 200mg+ Oxy to see where her pain is. She's on 20mg a DAY now. She isn't complaining about pain. She's still altered mental status. 24 hours pass, nurses Narcan her 6 times in 24 hours. SIX TIMES. Unheard of at a small hospital. She hadn't had her Oxy in almost 16 hours when she got her last Narcan shot.
Due to her altered mental status, patient was put as a "fall risk". As the nurses are putting the mats next to the patients bed, they turn around to get the pads that go over the sensors and the patient falls out of bed. Off the side? Nope. OFF THE END. They think she's fine, put her back in bed. They find her home med of Oxy that she had been taking in her bed. That explains why she is altered mental status, she's over-medicated. Problem solved? Nope. Patient is now 20 hours post dose (of hospital given medication).
I tell my pharmacist that we need to do a g*****n CT scan because she could have hit her head. ANYONE that falls should have a CT, especially if they are altered mental status. The nurse said she could have hit her head but the MD didn't order a CT scan because they wanted to put in a pacemaker. The patient had a low heart rate too, so they thought that was the cause of the altered mental status. I beg my pharmacist to let me talk to the Doctor myself. I just had that feeling. That bad feeling of 'oh s**t'. I'm good friends with an anesthesiologist that works at this site, so the pharmacist suggests we ask them first. I talk to them, they agree with me and go tell the MD to get a CT of the patients head. They do it.
2 hours later, patient is in ICU, crashing. Why? Cranial Hemorrhage per CT scan.
Next day, doctor comes to thank me. They were going to put the patient under for the pacemaker right when they did the CT scan.
I was on rotations, we had a lady who was taking VERY high doses of Oxycontin (roughly 240mg a DAY) for pain. I don't remember what it was related to, she had a laundry list for her PMH. Let's go with cancer, remission (to give life a good outlook). She is admitted to the general floor with altered mental status. She was out of it. Major side effect of opiates = altered mental status. Okay. No big deal, get the o****d out of there and the patient will probably come to.
Under my care (with my preceptor), the nurses on the floor had to use Naloxone on the patient. This hospital doesn't f**k around with pain control. Naloxone (or Narcan) is an o****d reversal agent. It wakes you up when you have too much that it is negatively affecting your chances at living (such as respiratory depression). Patient is taken off her 200mg+ Oxy to see where her pain is. She's on 20mg a DAY now. She isn't complaining about pain. She's still altered mental status. 24 hours pass, nurses Narcan her 6 times in 24 hours. SIX TIMES. Unheard of at a small hospital. She hadn't had her Oxy in almost 16 hours when she got her last Narcan shot.
Due to her altered mental status, patient was put as a "fall risk". As the nurses are putting the mats next to the patients bed, they turn around to get the pads that go over the sensors and the patient falls out of bed. Off the side? Nope. OFF THE END. They think she's fine, put her back in bed. They find her home med of Oxy that she had been taking in her bed. That explains why she is altered mental status, she's over-medicated. Problem solved? Nope. Patient is now 20 hours post dose (of hospital given medication).
I tell my pharmacist that we need to do a g*****n CT scan because she could have hit her head. ANYONE that falls should have a CT, especially if they are altered mental status. The nurse said she could have hit her head but the MD didn't order a CT scan because they wanted to put in a pacemaker. The patient had a low heart rate too, so they thought that was the cause of the altered mental status. I beg my pharmacist to let me talk to the Doctor myself. I just had that feeling. That bad feeling of 'oh s**t'. I'm good friends with an anesthesiologist that works at this site, so the pharmacist suggests we ask them first. I talk to them, they agree with me and go tell the MD to get a CT of the patients head. They do it.
2 hours later, patient is in ICU, crashing. Why? Cranial Hemorrhage per CT scan.
Next day, doctor comes to thank me. They were going to put the patient under for the pacemaker right when they did the CT scan.
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10points
#43
This is BY FAR the most responses from the actual profession that is being asked that I have ever seen. This is interesting. Usually they are like lawyers of reddit. Then 928484 people are like Im not a lawyer, but I train lady bugs and this and that.
8points
