I can still be amazed at times.

Just when I thought there were no more surprises out there, in walked Mr. so and so. He said his wife fell and he was trying to lift her up when he heard something pop and had severe pain in his back. I put him in a gown and helped him onto the stretcher..I asked him if he drove himself here and he had.

He needed pain control but he said he had to drive home so after some Tylenol and no relief from pain we discovered he had a compression fracture in his back.

He began making jokes and telling me if I didn't have that ring on my finger he'd ask me out. Now this kind of talk is not surprising to me... But wait, the surprise is coming.

I was instructed by the Dr. to start an IV and tell the patient that he would be spending the night in the hospital. The patient signed admission consent without comment. No surprise there yet.

As I was getting supplies to start his IV, I noticed that there was another patient with his same last name on the patient board. A female.

Surprise number 1.
Mr so and so's wife is here. She came in by ambulance several hours after Mr so and so arrived. She has a broken hip from her fall.

I went back to Mr so and so and began to start his IV. He talked a lot. "I'm an old sailor and I know all the dirty jokes there are" No surprise there.

When I completed my chore, you see I waited until all the needles were put away before I approached the subject of his wife. He said "Oh, she must have called 911."

I said, "Didn't you know she was hurt when you left her?" He said "Well, yes, I left her on the floor"

Surprise number 2 begins.
Mr so and so told me he layed in his wife's bed awhile after he tried the lifting her off the floor part. Then he took a hot shower thinking that would ease his back pain. Then, when nothing helped, he got in his car and drove himself to the hospital.....Leaving his wife on the floor!!!!

Four hours after his arrival I'm learning these facts. I asked him why he didn't tell us his wife was home still on the floor. He said, "Well, I gave her the phone before I left".

When I left his room, I went to his chart and found an order for IV pain medication. One of the other nurses asked if she could give that for me. I said no. I think I'll wait a couple of hours, I need a nap and maybe a hot shower first!