5AM Wake Up Call

It was 5 in the morning when Lucy went in to check on her elderly female patient who had fallen in the middle of the night. EMS brought her in at about 2 AM with complaints of hip and rib pain. Luckily nothing was broken.

Lucy completed her assessment and all the interventions (Xrays, pain meds, lab work) and settled her in to sleep while awaiting the results. She had popped in to check on her patient a few times to make sure all was well, but tried not to wake her each time.

At 5 AM, it all changed.

Lucy tip toed into the room as quiet as a mouse. She slowly lifted the covers off the feet of the patient, taking extra care not to disturb her at all. She needed to do a quick CMS check (for all you non medical readers - how well things are working in your foot like the pulse and blood refill after you push on a toenail) to make sure nothing had changed from previous.

She placed her fingers on the top of the foot to check her pulse when all of a sudden..........


"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The patient sat straight up and yelled into Lucy's face.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" We heard Lucy's scream from the desk, along with what sounded like a clipboard hitting a wall and the crash of metal. We all went running in the room and found the patient laughing hysterically while Lucy was pale faced, breathing hard, and standing next to a stainless steel cart that had mysteriously landed on it's side.

"Oh my, sweetie. Oh my!" the elderly lady laughed. "Oh, that was priceless! It's so fun to be my age - you can do stuff like that and everyone thinks it's OK because you're just an old lady. I have the time of my life scaring nursing staff when I'm in the hospital."

Lucy replied, "You scared the crap outta me!"

"Yeah, I know. But at least you don't have to wear a diaper to contain it all."