Many times in nursing, there are
times when a nurse may feel like panicking.
Although, it is never a good thing…and in fact a nurse should never
panic or at least let the patient know they are panicking, there are definitely
times when a nurse may feel like panicking.
One night, I was taken by surprise
when the daughter of one elderly patient, who was ready to be discharged home
later that day, came running to the nurses’ station shouting that her mom was
having a stroke. I rushed into the room,
not exactly certain what to expect.
There my patient sat, in her chair,
her mouth very twisted, drooling. She was having terrible difficulties
with speech, but seemed mentally clear and was able to follow all
instructions. Her hand grips were equal and strong, she denied having a
headache, she denied any numbness or weakness anywhere and was able to take
steps normally with no vision changes. I asked her to smile to check on
the symmetry of her mouth, but she struggled to do this and was unable to
despite repeated attempts. I didn’t think she was having a stroke, but
clearly something WAS horribly wrong. The symptoms seemed to come on
suddenly, out of the blue, and there was no progression. Her vitals were
fine.
Resisting the urge to call for help
at this point as I WAS the help, and before sending out the alarm, I decided to
calmly ask a few more questions. The answer that sent a bell off in my
head was that the symptoms exactly coincided with the insertion of her
dentures. I asked her to take them out.
When she popped the top denture out
we all broke out laughing. She had put her dentures in upside down!
The twisting of her mouth, the inability to speak or smile, and the
drooling was due to the fight she was having to keep the dentures from
falling out!
Boy, would I have been embarrassed
to have sent up flares and had a doctor come in only to discover the same
thing.
This is
one of those patient stories you remember forever! Moral? Always
take the time to evaluate a situation before panicking!
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