Boy, Was My Face RED!

Nurse Boy here for another fascinating True Story Tuesday!


I have been a nurse for about 12 and a half years now. Most of my career I have been a GI nurse. Studies have shown that I am a very good GI nurse. No need to reference those studies, just take my word for it.


But, early on in my career was a completely different story altogether.


There was a time when I worked on an oncology floor where many of my patients were post hysterectomy. When sending my patients home I would type their discharge instructions out and send it home with them. (All of that stuff is pre-printed now, but a lot has changed in the last 11 years.)


One day I was typing the instructions out just like I had done for the last six months while working on that floor. One of the complications that you would have the patient watch for is signs of infection. Most of these hysterectomies were done vaginally, which means the incision was through the vagina instead of through the abdominal wall. One way to watch for infection is to watch for "purulent drainage."


Most people don't know what purulent drainage is. A simple explanation is to say it is drainage with pus in it. As an alternative, I typed "look for pussy drainage."


Not a good alternative, since that makes a 24 year old male nurse look like a degenerate.


I had handed my patient and her husband her discharge instructions and was looking over the hospital copy on the way back to the nursing station when I noticed what I had done. What is worse is that I had been telling women to look for PUSSY DRAINAGE for six months!


I got no complaints, but I should have.


What more True Story Tuesday? Go visit Rachel and Mr. Daddy over HERE!