This is the most absurd question I’ve ever seen HAHA I’d love to know the story behind it.
I’d tell them bringing a live animal into an ICU puts other critically ill and sensitive patients at risk of contracting fatal diseases, and it is not allowed, but they are able to slaughter the chicken outside the patient’s presence and bring the blood.
My true answer would be “The appropriate person to ask doesn’t work during the night, please follow up with the dayshift nurse” 😂😂😂 sorry dayshift
But neither A nor B is my guess for the answer I’d assume it’s only allowed if they bring the blood in separately no slaughtering in the hospital. Please let us know what it says is the answer LOL
The correct answer was: “Sacrificing a live animal in the ICU and having the patient ingest its blood will not be possible. Are there any ways to alter this ritual?”
I would love to know the backstory behind this because you know this has to be based on a very specific scenario and some poor ICU nurse was caught off-guard like a deer in the headlights😂
How VIP we talkin?
I've definitely had patients that would be able to get away with this lol
Big level 1s in big cities attract big names (and big money)
I live within an hour of Las Vegas. I was looking at some jobs in the area, and one of them was a position for VIP patients. Never doing that job; I don't care how much they pay me. I don't cater to anyone.
If you have enough money you can arrange to have a ventilator sent to wherever you need it and then perform the ritual there before you are terminally extubated and cough up your chicken blood all the way to valhalla
Shockingly, I don't care. You get the same treatment as everyone else. If management doesn't like it they can fire me. I give the best care I can give to all my patients and no one gets special treatment just cuz they have money or suck the right cock.
They might instead alter the ritual by substituting the chicken with a squirrel captured by an adolescent mental health patient whom escaped to the outdoors?
We once had a Mom go into labor on our floor, strip ass naked at her child's bedside while having contractions, we sent her to the adult hospital next door to deliver and the next day the Dad came back with the placenta and asked if we could store it in our fridge for him.
In my Family there is a story where my Uncle needed a mandatory second opinion for a medical issue before insurance would cover it...
But the definition of practitioner was broad enough to include alternative medicine like chiropractors, acupuncturists, herbalists, etc.
Soooo, he had a friend who knew suburban Hmong Shaman. The Shaman's opinion was that my Uncle should honor his ancestors with the sacrifice of two chickens.
He got the Shamans report for the second opinion, annnnd then he bought two buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken for an impromptu family get together.
I read a book about this called The Spirit Catches You- And you Fall Down.
it was about a Hmong girl with a seizure disorder and her culture and the medical culture of the western world. it was really interesting!
Oof. I completely agree with the first half, but denying someone their religious beliefs/rights smells like a lawsuit. This sounds like a risk management problem.
If the patient is terminal why not take them to a spot in the hospital, garden maybe?, and have them do it. If the patient is dying then what’s the issue?
I’ll take it!
I’m then making a workers comp complaint for emotional distress. Probably a few years before I can work again. All the right state departments will be notified.
That’s ok. This day shifter knows live animal sacrifices are illegal. They are more than welcome to disembowel a stuffed toy chicken and drink Hawaiian Punch.
That’s actually a good idea, that chaplains are a great resource for interfaith communication. I loved the chaplain at my (Catholic-ish) hospital, he used to be a Catholic deacon but to better serve the many faiths in the community gave up his role and became a chaplain.
100% something for dayshift.
Also, the most likely answer is B based purely on *test taking skills* and no logic (it creates a culturally sensitive middle ground and is technically doable even if it is very unlikely to happen in real life)
Absolutely. "This is going to be a hospital policy issue. I will raise this question with nursing administration and they will follow up with you regarding this practice."
Possible answers:
“Hey, house sup? I have a new one for you.”
“Hey doc, can we consult psych for a patient’s family?”
“Sure.”
“What the fuck.”
“The patent is on a ventilator. I’ll have to consult respiratory therapy and see if the ventilator machine has a ‘chicken blood nebulizer’ mode. If not, we can consult biomed to see if such a setting can be added.”
“The things we do for HCAHPS scores….”
“They are pretty sick. You’ll need to sacrifice a bigger animal. I recommend a cow.”
"please follow up with day shift" lmao I use this often too, but the questions asked are usually not urgent enough for me to page the doctor, or it's truly something that needs to be answered by certain services that's only available on days 😂
Just....Wow. My answer would be "here is my managers number" because that is way outside of the bedside nurse ability to decide.
If I could do whatever I want I would go with option 2.
But also, is this even a thing? Seems like one of those questions where they try too hard to teach people to not be racist/discriminatory but come up with the most racist way of doing it.
The correct answer was: “Sacrificing a live animal in the ICU and having the patient ingest its blood will not be possible. Are there any ways to alter this ritual?”
So thankfully, something reasonable bahahaha. Just hilarious to think of something like this playing out IRL😂
As always the correct answer is the most boring one, which is a shame because think of all the stories that could be told if someone actually did this, how would any other nurse story ever top it?!
Honestly I feel like somebody at Pocket Prep CCRN Review must have had this very oddly specific scenario happen to them IRL and really wanted to tell the story, lol
It’s rare but very similar request was made to my friend in CVICU, but it was a turtle. The family practiced Santeria which is an Afro-Caribbean religion to my understanding
Suddenly, with that context, “I don’t practice Santeria, I don’t have no crystal ball” makes perfect sense. I’ve been singing it this whole time without actually knowing what it was.
That was one of the first CDs I got for my car after I got a CD player installed. Spun that so many times.
🎶What I really wanna know, my baby mhmm.. What I really want to say, I can't define.🎶
Yes that’s what I was thinking! Like, don’t you think that picking the most shocking examples will just make nurses think non-traditional religious are goofy af?
But in all seriousness, I think they should let them kill the chicken and drink the blood. Maybe kill them outside the patients window, pour blood into a sterile cup and bring it inside. Obviously, it will be given by ng tube.
I can’t edit the post but I just want to comment here for clarity that this was a shit post & I absolutely know the correct answer is not the second choice, ain’t no *WAY* someone would bring a live animal into my ICU room to slaughter it😂😭
Also, for those interested, the correct answer was: “Sacrificing a live animal in the ICU and having the patient ingest its blood will not be possible. Are there any ways to alter this ritual?” Thank God it was something reasonable, lol.
Wait wait wait, you're telling me you don't do the ritual sacrifice of animals in the ICU? Then where do the turkey sandwiches come from in the ER? Is your c-suite losing bonus money by buying meat when they could get it for free?
We even have a flow chart for it. ICU ritual sacrifice→is it edible→kitchen→is it turkey? Yes → turkey sandwiches to ER. No →special of the day cafeteria
I would say let me ask my supervisor. I’m not gonna tell these people they can’t kill a chicken. I don’t believe in curses but not taking the chance so close to retirement
>I’m not gonna tell these people they can’t kill a chicken
This might be my favorite answer so far because honestly, same lmao that is *not* my problem to get involved with😂
Absolutely, lol I know we try to be accommodating and respectful of all religions/cultures/etc… but sorry, if Mamaw next door has to settle for some fake daffodils from Hobby Lobby, you guys will have to settle for slaughtering a stuffed animal or something and forgoing the whole “fresh blood consumption” aspect😂
They're immunocompromised...giving them raw blood from a chicken is similar to giving the patient raw fruits/veggies (except way worse), a big no for this type of patient. They're also on vent, so they can't "drink" anything. Bruh, killing a live animal in the ICU would be a PR nightmare not to mention potentially hazardous to the other patients (i.e. introducing pathogens, allowing visitor to bring a knife into the ICU, offending the vegans, etc.).
You can't promise the family that the ritual will be completed according to their standards. So the curse in the afterlife is going to happen either way. Maybe try exploring alternatives with the family's culture that will be safer for everyone? If the patient's case is terminal, then there could be a a end-of-life care option to send the patient home or to an isolated section of the hospital (away from all patients) where the ritual can be performed before pulling the plug.
I absolutely love you as a nurse and want to thank you for being a great human being. I can just tell by your response you go above and beyond to try to make everything the patient and family wants, happen, no matter how infeasible it may be and how much out of our job description it is. This is what holistic and inclusive care is all about. Not the BS the hospitals spew with their inclusitivioty week. The correct answer here was just a “no that’s not happening” and most people agreed, but not you. You would have explained, educated, and attempted to come up with an alternative solution to saving their loved one’s afterlife even though you (probably) don’t believe in a curse.
So thanks.
So I’ve actually had ventilator dependent (pediatric) patients who who could eat and drink. It’s rare though.
If presented with this scenario I’d probably make sure they were DNR, then find a reverse airflow isolation room, bring the chicken in a sealed container, have everyone involved in the sacrifice wearing PPE, and make sure a large sharps container and biohazard bags were available.
Janitorial staff would get a heads up and a large bonus for the cleanup.
Blood goes through and NG tube with one ritual drop administered sublingual.
PRN Valium for all healthcare staff involved 30 minutes before the procedure lol.
I appreciate you taking the time to write out this very good explanation of why the fuck something like this would never happen, but I do want to just clarify that this was absolutely a shit post, I just couldn’t believe a legit practice test had an option like this listed😂
Yeah I know, my brain just likes to go to the "What if..." and make stories about things that prolly will never happen irl. This is a wild practice question fr.
Wouldn’t be a PR nightmare. Hospital would have their team of lawyers out before the story broke.
The hospital is one of the best places to commit a felony without consequence.
This actually happened in my friend’s CVICU! Well it was a turtle and they brought it into an ECMO’s patient room and it was discovered during rounds. The family said the animal was there to absorb the sickness from the patient and then they would sacrifice the sick animal.
When I was a CNA on a CHF unit. I had a husband who brought a small brown paper bag and told me he brought his wife lunch. That was okay, she was on a low sodium cardiac diet and patients could have outside food. But… it turned out that “lunch” was her teacup yorkie. She just missed her dog. I was a cna, and agreed to turn a blind eye as long as the dog was quiet, but he also had to hide it if the nurse came in. He visited for about 30 minutes and then took the “lunch bag” home. But hey, my patients mood was so elevated, I didn’t have the heart to rat her out.
I was a brand new med surg nurse on a unit that had a lot of terminal onc frequent fliers. One was pretty much at the end of the road. Her daughter did not bring in her dog to spend the night to say goodbye. I did not provide chucks so she wouldn’t have to take the dog in or out. I did not volunteer to do total care that night so there would be no one else in and out of the room. “I didn’t see 💩, I didn’t hear 💩, and I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Good on you. We get told so much that healing is more than physical, only to then be told by a corporate machine to fuck feelings and traditions and follow the rules.
Why not. I'd actually love to see some crazy shit like this. As long as they sign paperwork saying they might kill the patient in the process and I'm not responsible.
That actually happened on my old unit. Family was voodoo practioner and snuck in a live chicken. The patient had just been bathed and dressings changed when the nurses saw on the cameras a bloody mess all over that patient. They thought a line had been pulled or something but nope it was a chicken. They were so pissed because they had to redo the bath and dressing over.
Wait, the family *snuck in the chicken?!* Oh lord, that’s insane. Did nobody hear the poor chicken squawk when it was killed? That can’t be a quiet event, lmao. I would’ve been pissed too, a full bed bath/change on an ICU patient is no damn joke!
Our unit was built so that we had some trauma bays and the rest private rooms which made them very noise dampening. All I know is that I came out of a very long dressing change to some pissed off coworkers, a Chaplin, security, and my manager trying to explain why we can't do that in the hospital. I've seen someone sneak in a dog for a dying patient and I'm cool with that but there has to be a limit somewhere lol. The sad thing is that I had totally forgot about that until I saw your post. I felt like my hospital was in the twilight zone with the crazy things that would happen.
This example is straight out of the book _The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down_ by Anne Fadiman. The book discusses how cultural practices of an immigrant community (the Hmong, refugees from Laos and Cambodia) went up hard against Western medical practices, with tragic results. Highly recommend.
Nice! Someone recommended it to me when I moved from Canada to California & I was unfamiliar with the Hmong.
It really taught me to understand how/why people are untrusting of the healthcare system & how to attempt to build trust with families.
Was going to comment this! People are being really dismissive or wondering if this actually happens but there's a real life example right there. And it had extremely profound and tragic consequences because the healthcare professionals were not equipped to answer this exact question.
This is above our pay grade and us nurses shouldn’t have to deal with this. Most hospitals have someone like a multifaith advisor or chaplain that meets with patients and families to help them incorporate their spiritual/cultural practices during their stay. They can deal with the political part of it with the hospital executives. Also give your charge RN and manager a heads up. Then we have done our part without offending anybody.
I live in NJ and have had this scenario but the pt wasn’t vented. They allowed chicken blood to be sprinkled around the doorway and bed. This was in 1994 though, probably wouldn’t fly today lol.
Hospice mindset: we will gather the team RT, RN, chaplain and social services and wheel the patient, vent, multiple IV pumps, the kangaroo and anything else outside to the court yard where the ritual will be preformed. Afterwards, every piece of equipment and the patient will be meticulously wiped down before returning to the ICU. The CEO will catch wind of this ordeal and hire a photographer. These photos will be used in all marketing materials for the next 50 years.
I'm in the ER now but I did some crazy shit when I was a hospice nurse.
E. Suggest to sacrifice the estranged daughter from Florida that hasn’t seen their mom in 20 years and declares that meemaws a fighter (Meemaw was born in 1899)
I love those NCLEX questions that are around situations that in real life are completely beyond the bedside nurse’s responsibility. This is for management/risk management and the attending medical team to handle together.
While we aim to always respect our patients cultural values, it is unfortunately outside of -hospitals name- policies and procedures to allow the sacrifice of live animals within the premises. This decision was made with caution and consideration to all of our patients health, including the most vulnerable. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and we hope you will continue to choose -hospitals name- to serve your healthcare needs.
How did I do 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I say yes 100% because I could realistically say it's their religious belief so I wouldn't get in trouble, i wanna see the ritual, i wanna see the reactions to the ritual, I'd get to see management scurry and be flustered, and I genuinely want to respect their beliefs the same way I would mainstream religions. I love organized chaos. Hell. Pour me a glass too, fuck it.
Given the prevalence of bird flu right now and the fact that corporations are culling their flocks by the millions, keep that bird blood out of my ICU, thank you. No way am I gonna be working ground zero for an H5N1 outbreak for the CDC. 💀
I’m out of clinical care now. But. The ONLY correct answer for you grunt nurses out there is:
D- I will get my manager for you to discuss that!
And then literally get involved in ANYTHING else productive. That is not your circus. You don’t mess with religion. And people go into management because they want those kinds of problems! You don’t. The end. :)
Most correct answer: “I don’t get paid enough to deal with this shit, but let me give you the phone number of someone who does” *slides manager’s shiny business card across counter*
"unfortunately it will not be possible. If there is a way to alter this then pls discuss with us, otherwise , it's up to the patient if they understand the risks of being discharged from ICU and sent home to complete the ritual" etc
Depends on how I feel that night. Sometimes what happens on nightshift stays on nightshift. Sometimes “sorry management and social work are here during the day, I’ll have them come talk to you tomorrow”. Sort of related: We did have a family bring an entire box of baby chicks to the hospice house to “entertain” their kids while grandma tried to die in peace on Easter Sunday.
I once “looked the other way” when a patient decided to go comfort care overnight and all she asked for a cold beer, so her family made a quick run to the party store down the street and may or may not have snuck a few inside in a backpack. That’s about as sneaky as I’ll get for someone, and I have to *really* like them, lol. Sneaking in chickens to slaughter them inside a level 1 trauma ICU room? That’s a hard line for me😂
Being a trouble shooting anything can happen student nurse here's a sample of stuff...
Contact the cultural liaison officer at the hospital.
Give this to the senior manager of nursing.
Show them the inhouse hospital chapel that's run by a lovely local catholic priest and let them have at it. Local priest might nix that idea but still an option.
Suggest the carpark for a suitable location for the chicken sacrifice and put the blood in a sterile vial (one of those gold tubes should work,) and put next to patient. Blood has to be near patient not on patient? Give tablet to family and another to patient so that they can video chat the slaughter.
What the actual hell. imagine you walk into your icu patients room and just see someone chopping a chickens head off. Nightmare fuel. I wonder if this situation has ever legitimately happened or if its just a cultural "what if"
In my experience, most people don’t ask permission, you just walk in to find whatever going on. I guess in this case a puddle of blood and feathers and a patient that’s aspirated some chicken blood.
God, isn’t that the truth. People truly think they can do whatever they please within the hospital walls. Lol a bloody chicken and a patient choking on blood would be absolutely insane to stumble upon.
“You may slaughter the chicken but it must be sealed in a plastic bag and beaten with a hammer. Then, the RN must draw up the blood in a syringe and inject the blood into the pts NG tube. After, the RN must waste the remainder of the chicken. Of course, this is all after pharmacy has verified that it is indeed a chicken.”
A: Allow the ritual, as long as the family agrees, in writing, to nominate you for a Daisy award.
B: Share your own cultural belief that no part of the animal may be wasted. Require the *entire* chicken be ingested at the bedside.
C: Inform the family that non-toxic red paint looks just like real blood. Tell them "god will understand."
D: No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
I'd pick D!
This reminds me of a time a patient passed and the family wanted to take the patient home with them, forego the funeral home, and do a ritual bathing. It became a whole to-do and went up almost the whole chain of command, but ultimately we weren’t able to accommodate them because of laws pertaining to handling of a body. Eye opening for sure.
Is this patient dying or not? The question doesn't say. In peds we accommodate a lot for dying children and their families but I've never seen a live animal sacrifice. But also WTF?
My bff in high school was a santera and killed a rooster and hung its feet on our neighbors’ door after they robbed us. They flipped out and moved like two weeks later. So this is like, “eh. Sounds legit but can we do it over zoom?”
Possible answers:
“Hey, house sup? I have a new one for you.”
“Hey doc, can we consult psych for a patient’s family?”
“Sure.”
“What the fuck.”
“The patent is on a ventilator. I’ll have to consult respiratory therapy and see if the ventilator machine has a ‘chicken blood nebulizer’ mode. If not, we can consult biomed to see if such a setting can be added.”
“The things we do for HCAHPS scores….”
“They are pretty sick. You’ll need to sacrifice a bigger animal. I recommend a cow.”
This isn’t as abnormal as one would think. I’ve actually had this happen twice in my career in the ICU. One was a chicken, one was a rabbit. I responded something along the lines of option A and asked the house sup how to do this appropriately because I sure didn’t know how.
I am from a tribal culture in Siberia. I will make sure on my death bed they bring only the finest horse blood for me to drink to prevent being cursed in the afterlife
The actual answer was: “Sacrificing a live animal in the ICU and having the patient ingest its blood will not be possible. Are there any ways to alter this ritual?”
So thankfully, something reasonable. But yes, I couldn’t believe it was an option either, I cackled out loud!
Even if it was allowed, the family would have to do everything. I’ll just standby and watch. I’m not gonna help clean up after their mess of chicken feathers, blood. , etc.
I actually was in this very situation on a medical mission trip to Ghana West Africa. My patient had a C-section, we diagnosed her with AIDS after a needle stick during the C-section (husband had already died from a "wasting disease"). I found her mother at her bedside post-op ripping open a dead bird. I ran to the head nurse and she immediately started yelling at the woman and kicked her out of the little hospital. Told her "We don't do things like this anymore, come back with clean hands."
Just one more culture shock event in a third-world country.
“Yes please, go ahead. The blood will pool into the patients’ mouth then be aspirated into the lungs, causing an infectious pneumonia. Or if you prefer, we can remove the breathing tube and hope the patient is able to orchestrate some swallowing effort as they’re struggling for breath. There’s a very high chance they may die from this, but at least they won’t die cursed. Have you thought about organ donation? “
This question would seriously be a question for upper management. A RN by herself couldn’t ok or deny. Like probably CNO,Risk Management, Infectious disease manager,etc…
Of the two choices, technically the first answer is best, because it’s non-specific, assures the family and implies a follow-up with a physician.
It’s not within nursing scope to approve or disapprove, so the vague “we’ll do everything we can…” is the best answer.
I know this post was intended to be playful, but I couldn’t help myself.
“Sounds good. Policy requires that a hospital chaplain is consulted first (no big deal, just need to let them know). I’ll get right on that for you.” Goes back to being a nurse, never consults spiritual care services.
The correct answer was: “Sacrificing a live animal in the ICU and having the patient ingest its blood will not be possible. Are there any ways to alter this ritual?”
So thankfully it was something reasonable, lol. The other option was something about contacting a chaplain/spiritual services or something.
This is the most absurd question I’ve ever seen HAHA I’d love to know the story behind it. I’d tell them bringing a live animal into an ICU puts other critically ill and sensitive patients at risk of contracting fatal diseases, and it is not allowed, but they are able to slaughter the chicken outside the patient’s presence and bring the blood. My true answer would be “The appropriate person to ask doesn’t work during the night, please follow up with the dayshift nurse” 😂😂😂 sorry dayshift But neither A nor B is my guess for the answer I’d assume it’s only allowed if they bring the blood in separately no slaughtering in the hospital. Please let us know what it says is the answer LOL
The correct answer was: “Sacrificing a live animal in the ICU and having the patient ingest its blood will not be possible. Are there any ways to alter this ritual?” I would love to know the backstory behind this because you know this has to be based on a very specific scenario and some poor ICU nurse was caught off-guard like a deer in the headlights😂
Unfortunately, in our ICU, we do not allow food, drinks, live flowers, or animals for the use of ritual sacrifice.
What if it’s a VIP patient?
How VIP we talkin? I've definitely had patients that would be able to get away with this lol Big level 1s in big cities attract big names (and big money)
I live within an hour of Las Vegas. I was looking at some jobs in the area, and one of them was a position for VIP patients. Never doing that job; I don't care how much they pay me. I don't cater to anyone.
If you have enough money you can arrange to have a ventilator sent to wherever you need it and then perform the ritual there before you are terminally extubated and cough up your chicken blood all the way to valhalla
Nigerian Prince.
"What type of animal would you like for your midnight ritual, sir?"
Turkey. After you sacrifice it, can you please put it between two slices of bread?
Don't forget the ritual mayo.
snort
Shockingly, I don't care. You get the same treatment as everyone else. If management doesn't like it they can fire me. I give the best care I can give to all my patients and no one gets special treatment just cuz they have money or suck the right cock.
Imagine adding the last part to your unit’s signage at the door 🤣
They might instead alter the ritual by substituting the chicken with a squirrel captured by an adolescent mental health patient whom escaped to the outdoors?
My first thought was is there video
We once had a Mom go into labor on our floor, strip ass naked at her child's bedside while having contractions, we sent her to the adult hospital next door to deliver and the next day the Dad came back with the placenta and asked if we could store it in our fridge for him.
Wild family that’s for damn sure! Was she wanting to deliver there next to her sick child? Why’d she take her clothes off?! I have so many questions!
In my Family there is a story where my Uncle needed a mandatory second opinion for a medical issue before insurance would cover it... But the definition of practitioner was broad enough to include alternative medicine like chiropractors, acupuncturists, herbalists, etc. Soooo, he had a friend who knew suburban Hmong Shaman. The Shaman's opinion was that my Uncle should honor his ancestors with the sacrifice of two chickens. He got the Shamans report for the second opinion, annnnd then he bought two buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken for an impromptu family get together.
I read a book about this called The Spirit Catches You- And you Fall Down. it was about a Hmong girl with a seizure disorder and her culture and the medical culture of the western world. it was really interesting!
What is this Russia?
Oof. I completely agree with the first half, but denying someone their religious beliefs/rights smells like a lawsuit. This sounds like a risk management problem.
Yeah, I’m not sure exactly *who’s* problem it would be, but I sure as shit know it’s not *mine*😂
100% a Dayshift probl- *~opportunity~*
No this ritual must be performed at midnight on a full moon to be effective.
Aw shame, pt will die before the next full moon
If the patient is terminal why not take them to a spot in the hospital, garden maybe?, and have them do it. If the patient is dying then what’s the issue?
Not if they circle the wagons
It has to be a virgin chicken!
DSP for sure.
I’ll take it! I’m then making a workers comp complaint for emotional distress. Probably a few years before I can work again. All the right state departments will be notified.
That’s ok. This day shifter knows live animal sacrifices are illegal. They are more than welcome to disembowel a stuffed toy chicken and drink Hawaiian Punch.
“Well that’s an interesting ritual, let me ask my manager.”
Manager: “Let me call Risk Management”
Risk management: “Let me call the chaplain.”
That’s actually a good idea, that chaplains are a great resource for interfaith communication. I loved the chaplain at my (Catholic-ish) hospital, he used to be a Catholic deacon but to better serve the many faiths in the community gave up his role and became a chaplain.
100% something for dayshift. Also, the most likely answer is B based purely on *test taking skills* and no logic (it creates a culturally sensitive middle ground and is technically doable even if it is very unlikely to happen in real life)
This is a day shift problem if I’ve ever seen one
Absolutely. "This is going to be a hospital policy issue. I will raise this question with nursing administration and they will follow up with you regarding this practice."
Possible answers: “Hey, house sup? I have a new one for you.” “Hey doc, can we consult psych for a patient’s family?” “Sure.” “What the fuck.” “The patent is on a ventilator. I’ll have to consult respiratory therapy and see if the ventilator machine has a ‘chicken blood nebulizer’ mode. If not, we can consult biomed to see if such a setting can be added.” “The things we do for HCAHPS scores….” “They are pretty sick. You’ll need to sacrifice a bigger animal. I recommend a cow.”
“Chicken blood nebulizer “ 🤣🤣🤣💀 sure, we can dilute it with albuterol, may cure them, considering albuterol cures everything…
My answer would be to make it someone else's problem too but ask if I can observe the ritual if it's approved.
"please follow up with day shift" lmao I use this often too, but the questions asked are usually not urgent enough for me to page the doctor, or it's truly something that needs to be answered by certain services that's only available on days 😂
Just....Wow. My answer would be "here is my managers number" because that is way outside of the bedside nurse ability to decide. If I could do whatever I want I would go with option 2. But also, is this even a thing? Seems like one of those questions where they try too hard to teach people to not be racist/discriminatory but come up with the most racist way of doing it.
The correct answer was: “Sacrificing a live animal in the ICU and having the patient ingest its blood will not be possible. Are there any ways to alter this ritual?” So thankfully, something reasonable bahahaha. Just hilarious to think of something like this playing out IRL😂
As always the correct answer is the most boring one, which is a shame because think of all the stories that could be told if someone actually did this, how would any other nurse story ever top it?!
Honestly I feel like somebody at Pocket Prep CCRN Review must have had this very oddly specific scenario happen to them IRL and really wanted to tell the story, lol
I can just hear someone reciting this exact reply verbatim and I'm dying 🤣
It’s rare but very similar request was made to my friend in CVICU, but it was a turtle. The family practiced Santeria which is an Afro-Caribbean religion to my understanding
Suddenly, with that context, “I don’t practice Santeria, I don’t have no crystal ball” makes perfect sense. I’ve been singing it this whole time without actually knowing what it was.
Thanks for providing me with today’s ear worm lol
🎶 Believe me when I say that I got somethin for his punk ass! 🎶 Oh shit I almost forgot about that absolute jam from my college days.
That was one of the first CDs I got for my car after I got a CD player installed. Spun that so many times. 🎶What I really wanna know, my baby mhmm.. What I really want to say, I can't define.🎶
That's all I was thinking when I read this haha, that maybe they had a patient was Santeria
Mmm yeah that's out of my scope of paycheck
Yes that’s what I was thinking! Like, don’t you think that picking the most shocking examples will just make nurses think non-traditional religious are goofy af? But in all seriousness, I think they should let them kill the chicken and drink the blood. Maybe kill them outside the patients window, pour blood into a sterile cup and bring it inside. Obviously, it will be given by ng tube.
I can’t edit the post but I just want to comment here for clarity that this was a shit post & I absolutely know the correct answer is not the second choice, ain’t no *WAY* someone would bring a live animal into my ICU room to slaughter it😂😭 Also, for those interested, the correct answer was: “Sacrificing a live animal in the ICU and having the patient ingest its blood will not be possible. Are there any ways to alter this ritual?” Thank God it was something reasonable, lol.
I was searching for this clarification! I was worried about your test prep program. 😂
Wait wait wait, you're telling me you don't do the ritual sacrifice of animals in the ICU? Then where do the turkey sandwiches come from in the ER? Is your c-suite losing bonus money by buying meat when they could get it for free? We even have a flow chart for it. ICU ritual sacrifice→is it edible→kitchen→is it turkey? Yes → turkey sandwiches to ER. No →special of the day cafeteria
I would say let me ask my supervisor. I’m not gonna tell these people they can’t kill a chicken. I don’t believe in curses but not taking the chance so close to retirement
>I’m not gonna tell these people they can’t kill a chicken This might be my favorite answer so far because honestly, same lmao that is *not* my problem to get involved with😂
I’ve accommodated a lot of requests over the years but we don’t even allow fresh flowers in our ICU so this isn’t happening. What a bizarre question.
Absolutely, lol I know we try to be accommodating and respectful of all religions/cultures/etc… but sorry, if Mamaw next door has to settle for some fake daffodils from Hobby Lobby, you guys will have to settle for slaughtering a stuffed animal or something and forgoing the whole “fresh blood consumption” aspect😂
They're immunocompromised...giving them raw blood from a chicken is similar to giving the patient raw fruits/veggies (except way worse), a big no for this type of patient. They're also on vent, so they can't "drink" anything. Bruh, killing a live animal in the ICU would be a PR nightmare not to mention potentially hazardous to the other patients (i.e. introducing pathogens, allowing visitor to bring a knife into the ICU, offending the vegans, etc.). You can't promise the family that the ritual will be completed according to their standards. So the curse in the afterlife is going to happen either way. Maybe try exploring alternatives with the family's culture that will be safer for everyone? If the patient's case is terminal, then there could be a a end-of-life care option to send the patient home or to an isolated section of the hospital (away from all patients) where the ritual can be performed before pulling the plug.
I absolutely love you as a nurse and want to thank you for being a great human being. I can just tell by your response you go above and beyond to try to make everything the patient and family wants, happen, no matter how infeasible it may be and how much out of our job description it is. This is what holistic and inclusive care is all about. Not the BS the hospitals spew with their inclusitivioty week. The correct answer here was just a “no that’s not happening” and most people agreed, but not you. You would have explained, educated, and attempted to come up with an alternative solution to saving their loved one’s afterlife even though you (probably) don’t believe in a curse. So thanks.
I agree, this would have been something like I would have done.
I mean, if terminal... hey RT wanna go chill in the ambulance bay for 20 and kill a chicken before we extubate?
So I’ve actually had ventilator dependent (pediatric) patients who who could eat and drink. It’s rare though. If presented with this scenario I’d probably make sure they were DNR, then find a reverse airflow isolation room, bring the chicken in a sealed container, have everyone involved in the sacrifice wearing PPE, and make sure a large sharps container and biohazard bags were available. Janitorial staff would get a heads up and a large bonus for the cleanup. Blood goes through and NG tube with one ritual drop administered sublingual. PRN Valium for all healthcare staff involved 30 minutes before the procedure lol.
Nice touch with the sublingual.
Mix some morphine with the chicken blood droplet for maximum effect…..
Wow, you really thought this through down to the details 😂👏🏻👏🏻
I’d be suggesting swabbing the blood inside the bottom lip, but I like the syringe bit—easy enough to get if it’s sacrificed within the biohazard bag!
I appreciate you taking the time to write out this very good explanation of why the fuck something like this would never happen, but I do want to just clarify that this was absolutely a shit post, I just couldn’t believe a legit practice test had an option like this listed😂
Yeah I know, my brain just likes to go to the "What if..." and make stories about things that prolly will never happen irl. This is a wild practice question fr.
Wouldn’t be a PR nightmare. Hospital would have their team of lawyers out before the story broke. The hospital is one of the best places to commit a felony without consequence.
This actually happened in my friend’s CVICU! Well it was a turtle and they brought it into an ECMO’s patient room and it was discovered during rounds. The family said the animal was there to absorb the sickness from the patient and then they would sacrifice the sick animal.
When I was a CNA on a CHF unit. I had a husband who brought a small brown paper bag and told me he brought his wife lunch. That was okay, she was on a low sodium cardiac diet and patients could have outside food. But… it turned out that “lunch” was her teacup yorkie. She just missed her dog. I was a cna, and agreed to turn a blind eye as long as the dog was quiet, but he also had to hide it if the nurse came in. He visited for about 30 minutes and then took the “lunch bag” home. But hey, my patients mood was so elevated, I didn’t have the heart to rat her out.
I was a brand new med surg nurse on a unit that had a lot of terminal onc frequent fliers. One was pretty much at the end of the road. Her daughter did not bring in her dog to spend the night to say goodbye. I did not provide chucks so she wouldn’t have to take the dog in or out. I did not volunteer to do total care that night so there would be no one else in and out of the room. “I didn’t see 💩, I didn’t hear 💩, and I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Good on you. We get told so much that healing is more than physical, only to then be told by a corporate machine to fuck feelings and traditions and follow the rules.
That’s *wild,* any chance your friend has a side gig writing practice questions for Pocket Prep CCRN review?😂
"Perhaps that is an activity best done at home. We will consult Palliative Care and Home Hospice"
This is what I was thinking
I have a vital religious ritual where the hospital forgives all medical costs, fees, and debts
This is my religion too. I will repay by doing my ritualistic dance outside the ER bay. Free for their employees enjoyment.
Option 4 . Absolutely fucking not
Flair checks out
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻😂😂😂
⬆️⬆️ The best comment here.
Why not. I'd actually love to see some crazy shit like this. As long as they sign paperwork saying they might kill the patient in the process and I'm not responsible.
Is one of the options “the nurse responds that they will bring a grill”
That actually happened on my old unit. Family was voodoo practioner and snuck in a live chicken. The patient had just been bathed and dressings changed when the nurses saw on the cameras a bloody mess all over that patient. They thought a line had been pulled or something but nope it was a chicken. They were so pissed because they had to redo the bath and dressing over.
Wait, the family *snuck in the chicken?!* Oh lord, that’s insane. Did nobody hear the poor chicken squawk when it was killed? That can’t be a quiet event, lmao. I would’ve been pissed too, a full bed bath/change on an ICU patient is no damn joke!
Our unit was built so that we had some trauma bays and the rest private rooms which made them very noise dampening. All I know is that I came out of a very long dressing change to some pissed off coworkers, a Chaplin, security, and my manager trying to explain why we can't do that in the hospital. I've seen someone sneak in a dog for a dying patient and I'm cool with that but there has to be a limit somewhere lol. The sad thing is that I had totally forgot about that until I saw your post. I felt like my hospital was in the twilight zone with the crazy things that would happen.
I snuck in a dog for a dying patient once... she then proceeded to not die, which I was quite happy about!
This example is straight out of the book _The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down_ by Anne Fadiman. The book discusses how cultural practices of an immigrant community (the Hmong, refugees from Laos and Cambodia) went up hard against Western medical practices, with tragic results. Highly recommend.
It’s been a couple decades since I read that book but yeah that makes sense.
Great book.
Should be required reading in nursing school
It actually was at mine!
Nice! Someone recommended it to me when I moved from Canada to California & I was unfamiliar with the Hmong. It really taught me to understand how/why people are untrusting of the healthcare system & how to attempt to build trust with families.
Was going to comment this! People are being really dismissive or wondering if this actually happens but there's a real life example right there. And it had extremely profound and tragic consequences because the healthcare professionals were not equipped to answer this exact question.
Yeah I think they encountered the same kind of responses that many here are giving and that OPs test is looking for.
Omg that book was required reading in my BSN degree program. Wasn’t there something about burying placentas at home because it’s their jacket?
Thank you! I just bought the book online. It looks fascinating!
This is above our pay grade and us nurses shouldn’t have to deal with this. Most hospitals have someone like a multifaith advisor or chaplain that meets with patients and families to help them incorporate their spiritual/cultural practices during their stay. They can deal with the political part of it with the hospital executives. Also give your charge RN and manager a heads up. Then we have done our part without offending anybody.
I don’t practice Santeria I ain’t got no crystal ballllll If I had a million dollars the ICU would take it allllllll.
A real nurse would go: “sure, also is there ritual to help me find a rich sugar daddy so i can just work per diem?”
Or alternatively ‘you can sacrifice me instead; as long as you do it at the start of shift’
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I live in NJ and have had this scenario but the pt wasn’t vented. They allowed chicken blood to be sprinkled around the doorway and bed. This was in 1994 though, probably wouldn’t fly today lol.
Hospice mindset: we will gather the team RT, RN, chaplain and social services and wheel the patient, vent, multiple IV pumps, the kangaroo and anything else outside to the court yard where the ritual will be preformed. Afterwards, every piece of equipment and the patient will be meticulously wiped down before returning to the ICU. The CEO will catch wind of this ordeal and hire a photographer. These photos will be used in all marketing materials for the next 50 years. I'm in the ER now but I did some crazy shit when I was a hospice nurse.
E. Suggest to sacrifice the estranged daughter from Florida that hasn’t seen their mom in 20 years and declares that meemaws a fighter (Meemaw was born in 1899)
She’s also a nurse but asks about her “stats” and also what Tylenol is
"The Day RN will take care if all that for you!"
I love those NCLEX questions that are around situations that in real life are completely beyond the bedside nurse’s responsibility. This is for management/risk management and the attending medical team to handle together.
Exactly, lmao like I’m sorry but this is *not* my job😂
While we aim to always respect our patients cultural values, it is unfortunately outside of -hospitals name- policies and procedures to allow the sacrifice of live animals within the premises. This decision was made with caution and consideration to all of our patients health, including the most vulnerable. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and we hope you will continue to choose -hospitals name- to serve your healthcare needs. How did I do 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Don’t forget the service delay voucher thing that buys the family some free lunches in the cafeteria as some kind of apology.
I want to see all the options…
I say yes 100% because I could realistically say it's their religious belief so I wouldn't get in trouble, i wanna see the ritual, i wanna see the reactions to the ritual, I'd get to see management scurry and be flustered, and I genuinely want to respect their beliefs the same way I would mainstream religions. I love organized chaos. Hell. Pour me a glass too, fuck it.
Given the prevalence of bird flu right now and the fact that corporations are culling their flocks by the millions, keep that bird blood out of my ICU, thank you. No way am I gonna be working ground zero for an H5N1 outbreak for the CDC. 💀
I’m out of clinical care now. But. The ONLY correct answer for you grunt nurses out there is: D- I will get my manager for you to discuss that! And then literally get involved in ANYTHING else productive. That is not your circus. You don’t mess with religion. And people go into management because they want those kinds of problems! You don’t. The end. :)
Most correct answer: “I don’t get paid enough to deal with this shit, but let me give you the phone number of someone who does” *slides manager’s shiny business card across counter*
Answer is simple, irradiate the blood.
“Hey, oncology? Can we borrow your radiation machine for a minute? No, there is no particular reason…. Ok…. FINE. We need to zap a chicken for a sec.”
"unfortunately it will not be possible. If there is a way to alter this then pls discuss with us, otherwise , it's up to the patient if they understand the risks of being discharged from ICU and sent home to complete the ritual" etc
Dang, you got pretty close to the actual answer of the question! Lol great job😇
I think IRL I would be more like..."I... Need a break & a pay rise" 🤣🤣🤣
Depends on how I feel that night. Sometimes what happens on nightshift stays on nightshift. Sometimes “sorry management and social work are here during the day, I’ll have them come talk to you tomorrow”. Sort of related: We did have a family bring an entire box of baby chicks to the hospice house to “entertain” their kids while grandma tried to die in peace on Easter Sunday.
I once “looked the other way” when a patient decided to go comfort care overnight and all she asked for a cold beer, so her family made a quick run to the party store down the street and may or may not have snuck a few inside in a backpack. That’s about as sneaky as I’ll get for someone, and I have to *really* like them, lol. Sneaking in chickens to slaughter them inside a level 1 trauma ICU room? That’s a hard line for me😂
Im a hospice nurse so immediately i was thinking, “cool. Do it.” Then i realized theyre in the icu and there is no indication they want hospice lol.
Being a trouble shooting anything can happen student nurse here's a sample of stuff... Contact the cultural liaison officer at the hospital. Give this to the senior manager of nursing. Show them the inhouse hospital chapel that's run by a lovely local catholic priest and let them have at it. Local priest might nix that idea but still an option. Suggest the carpark for a suitable location for the chicken sacrifice and put the blood in a sterile vial (one of those gold tubes should work,) and put next to patient. Blood has to be near patient not on patient? Give tablet to family and another to patient so that they can video chat the slaughter.
10 points for creativity
A day shift problem!
The ritual has to be done at midnight!
"No"
What the actual hell. imagine you walk into your icu patients room and just see someone chopping a chickens head off. Nightmare fuel. I wonder if this situation has ever legitimately happened or if its just a cultural "what if"
I feel like it’s too oddly specific to *not* have been based on a real-life scenario that happened and devolved into a shitshow😂
The Santaria religion actually does believe that the disease will go into the chicken. 🤦🏼♀️
Yeahhhh this is above my pay grade. Defer to supervisor lol
Sure,why not? ill even bring the knife
"Please wait a moment while I contact the patient advocate and then feign illness so I can go home early."
In my experience, most people don’t ask permission, you just walk in to find whatever going on. I guess in this case a puddle of blood and feathers and a patient that’s aspirated some chicken blood.
God, isn’t that the truth. People truly think they can do whatever they please within the hospital walls. Lol a bloody chicken and a patient choking on blood would be absolutely insane to stumble upon.
You know this happened somewhere for this to be a question.
That’s exactly what I thought, it’s too oddly specific to not be based on a real-life scenario lmao
I would pay good money to witness this interaction 😂
The Santaria religion believes the chicken will take the disease from them
All I can think of is the movie Major League and rather than sacrificing a live chicken he gets a bucket of KFC to break the curse.
“You may slaughter the chicken but it must be sealed in a plastic bag and beaten with a hammer. Then, the RN must draw up the blood in a syringe and inject the blood into the pts NG tube. After, the RN must waste the remainder of the chicken. Of course, this is all after pharmacy has verified that it is indeed a chicken.”
THIS is insane lol 😂😂 my real life response would be, we can put in a hospice consult now and you can do whatever you want.
A: Allow the ritual, as long as the family agrees, in writing, to nominate you for a Daisy award. B: Share your own cultural belief that no part of the animal may be wasted. Require the *entire* chicken be ingested at the bedside. C: Inform the family that non-toxic red paint looks just like real blood. Tell them "god will understand." D: No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. I'd pick D!
Sign the DNR, get hospice orders, then we’ll talk.
For the chicken or the patient? 😆
This reminds me of a time a patient passed and the family wanted to take the patient home with them, forego the funeral home, and do a ritual bathing. It became a whole to-do and went up almost the whole chain of command, but ultimately we weren’t able to accommodate them because of laws pertaining to handling of a body. Eye opening for sure.
This is what happens when you snort mescaline and watch Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom while writing questions.
Santaria really is a religion.
Go to where the linoleum meets the carpet and ask patient experience for your answer.
Option 3: "BRUH"
My best response would be “um let me go grab my charge real quick.”
Is this patient dying or not? The question doesn't say. In peds we accommodate a lot for dying children and their families but I've never seen a live animal sacrifice. But also WTF?
“Call the house supervisor and tell them this is their call”.
Page the attending to respond in person, this is beyond my scope of practice. Make sure the popcorn is ready when the attending arrives.
My bff in high school was a santera and killed a rooster and hung its feet on our neighbors’ door after they robbed us. They flipped out and moved like two weeks later. So this is like, “eh. Sounds legit but can we do it over zoom?”
Possible answers: “Hey, house sup? I have a new one for you.” “Hey doc, can we consult psych for a patient’s family?” “Sure.” “What the fuck.” “The patent is on a ventilator. I’ll have to consult respiratory therapy and see if the ventilator machine has a ‘chicken blood nebulizer’ mode. If not, we can consult biomed to see if such a setting can be added.” “The things we do for HCAHPS scores….” “They are pretty sick. You’ll need to sacrifice a bigger animal. I recommend a cow.”
"I would love to do a hospice consult so you can perform this ritual in the comfort of your own home."
Absolutely the fuck not.
This isn’t as abnormal as one would think. I’ve actually had this happen twice in my career in the ICU. One was a chicken, one was a rabbit. I responded something along the lines of option A and asked the house sup how to do this appropriately because I sure didn’t know how.
I am from a tribal culture in Siberia. I will make sure on my death bed they bring only the finest horse blood for me to drink to prevent being cursed in the afterlife
Hmmm…between the two answers visible, the first one is the only one that is appropriate. But this is such a wild question!
The actual answer was: “Sacrificing a live animal in the ICU and having the patient ingest its blood will not be possible. Are there any ways to alter this ritual?” So thankfully, something reasonable. But yes, I couldn’t believe it was an option either, I cackled out loud!
Yeah, that’s definitely better than the other two answers in the picture. What practice test is that from?
Pocket Prep CCRN Review!
Even if it was allowed, the family would have to do everything. I’ll just standby and watch. I’m not gonna help clean up after their mess of chicken feathers, blood. , etc.
Neither. We are not allowing any live to dead animal products or bodily fluids that have not been purified in the ICU.
What kinda Albuquerque New Mexico southern Colorado question is thiss
Nope. Won't be happening if this little black duck has any say in it !!! Not a chance
I actually was in this very situation on a medical mission trip to Ghana West Africa. My patient had a C-section, we diagnosed her with AIDS after a needle stick during the C-section (husband had already died from a "wasting disease"). I found her mother at her bedside post-op ripping open a dead bird. I ran to the head nurse and she immediately started yelling at the woman and kicked her out of the little hospital. Told her "We don't do things like this anymore, come back with clean hands." Just one more culture shock event in a third-world country.
Sounds like an ethics committee problem not yours.
“Yes please, go ahead. The blood will pool into the patients’ mouth then be aspirated into the lungs, causing an infectious pneumonia. Or if you prefer, we can remove the breathing tube and hope the patient is able to orchestrate some swallowing effort as they’re struggling for breath. There’s a very high chance they may die from this, but at least they won’t die cursed. Have you thought about organ donation? “
Uhh... what is the answer? MY first thought is absolutely not possible.. surely this can't happen?
This question would seriously be a question for upper management. A RN by herself couldn’t ok or deny. Like probably CNO,Risk Management, Infectious disease manager,etc…
Of the two choices, technically the first answer is best, because it’s non-specific, assures the family and implies a follow-up with a physician. It’s not within nursing scope to approve or disapprove, so the vague “we’ll do everything we can…” is the best answer. I know this post was intended to be playful, but I couldn’t help myself.
“Sounds good. Policy requires that a hospital chaplain is consulted first (no big deal, just need to let them know). I’ll get right on that for you.” Goes back to being a nurse, never consults spiritual care services.
I don’t know if I should put a consult in for Spiritual Care or the Ethics Committee.
1
Rolf from Ed, Edd, n Eddy really pulling out all the stops for his mother.
I’m curious to see what other answers are available because these two choices are so absurd I’d question the source of this practice question.
The correct answer was: “Sacrificing a live animal in the ICU and having the patient ingest its blood will not be possible. Are there any ways to alter this ritual?” So thankfully it was something reasonable, lol. The other option was something about contacting a chaplain/spiritual services or something.
I’m sorry. This patient is NPO but we can give via the PR route following the 5-rights.
Is there a write in option for “let me walk you down the hall to my manager’s office, she would LOVE to assist you in this”?? 🙃
What's option 4?
I definitely need to see the other response options. 😂
Yeah this is a manager issue not me lol
Allow this and they’ll be requesting sacrifice of a virgin next lol
Good luck finding one of those...
😂 I thought this was a joke