Nasty Nose Borer

My patient of note today was admitted with a nose bleed, a bad one. Before the doctors figured out a way to stop the bleeding, he lost so much blood that we had to give him two units. So, what caused his nose bleed? Aggressive nose picking.

While I was busy with another patient, he used his call light, which another nurse answered. She came and got me, telling me that he was in respiratory distress and needed a respiratory therapist. She didn't know him as well as I did. I walked into his room and told him to breathe through his mouth. Frantically he said, "I must breathe through my nose." His wife was pleading with me to call the doctor. At the very least, he wanted some gauze so that he could clean out his nose.

We discussed why that wasn't a good idea given what had happened earlier. While cleaning one nostril, he had ruptured a blood vessel. Now, he wanted to work on his remaining unbandaged nostril. Reluctantly, I suggested that he very gently blow only his good nostril. He did and a wad of snot came out. Success.

Later, he complained that he wanted someone to turn down the temperature. It had been a hot day and with our lousy air conditioners, the room was hot and stuffy. Since he was wrapped in a blanket, the first thing I did was pull it off of him. He snapped, "What are you doing, I'm freezing." I replied that he said he wanted the temperature turned down. He said, "Yes I want the temperature turned down, I'm cold." Rather than argue about what the statement means, I got a bunch of blankets and covered up the old coot. Geeez!