Gum And Fetus

I don't like clutter, so when going in a patient's room, I look to see if there's anything on the bedside table that can be tossed in the trash. Usually, it's empty drinking cups or nurse debri, such as needle caps or bloody cotton balls. This time there was something small and white on top of the table. It didn't look like a biohazard, so I picked it up with my bare fingers. Big mistake. It was fresh, gooey chewing gum.

So, where did it come from? The patient had just come back from OR and it's highly unlikely that they allowed her to chew gum during her surgery. Her personal belongings were out of reach after the surgery, so it couldn't have been the patient's gum. It wasn't the gum of any of her visitors because she didn't have any. That leaves just the nurses and strangers off the street as suspects. Unless, it was left over from the previous patient and the table was not cleaned. We'll never know.

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We had a homeless patient living with us for about a month. We didn't particularly mind. He was easy to take care of, never complained or used his call light. There was never an issue until the day came for him to leave for a nursing home. Then, he insisted on wearing his own clothes for the transfer. Once the sealed bag with his clothes was opened, the entire unit reeked. His nurse kept complaining about the smell of "fetus." I thought it smelled more like feces, but then, what do I know? I've never smelled a fetus.

I asked a couple of coworkers about the "fetus" smell and they all agreed that it was bad. I guess the language mix-up could be worse. Imagine if they worked in a unit with expectant mothers and they referred to the baby as the feces.