Best Hallucinations Thread

9 Cmon, what's some of the good stuff?

I had a patient who spoke only Russian and finally when I was assigned to him, I think I might have been the first person who understood him (I speak Russian). Turns out he'd been hallucinating for God knows how long! It was sort of sweet because he was comforted by the baby bear and his mama bear in the corner. Bears are a common animal in Russian folklore. One of my favorite residents got her nickname 'Baby Bear' that way because the patient pointed right at her to indicate where he thought he was seeing it.

I had another patient who hadn't slept in days and was demanding every sedative/narcotic/benzo we could give but fighting terribly to stay awake so we couldn't say she was too sedated for the next dose. It was nuts. By the time she had a psychotic break, she was accusing me of plotting to run away with her boyfriend and that there were puppies in the hallway.

That also reminds me of the lady who said she watched a wedding procession in the hallway.

There are so many of these, right?
My patient had an iv beeping "downstream occlusion "every time he bent his arm and each time it would start again he would wake up long enough to answer his phone and fall back asleep with the phone to his ear.

Caterpillars in rectum is my personal favorite chief complaint.Or when the restrained DTers call you into their room because their girlfriends had their way with them but forgot to set them loose after. That's a classic. .

Had a patient who had some dementia. I came in to check on her at 2 am and she told me about the little mouse by the window. I assured her that everything was okay and she should go to sleep. At 4 I walked in and again she talked about the mouse. I glanced over and there actually was a mouse just sitting on top of the vent by the window. I freaked out a bit and she told me "don't worry honey. Atleast it's not a snake." Not a hallucination but it was so funny.I also had a patient who kept yelling at a person who didn't exist to stop touching her leg. Every 5 minutes she'd yell out about it. You'd have to go in and slap them away from her so she could go back to sleep.

Had a guy seeing beetles crawling on the ceiling and walls. Much like the huge ones in the Mummy. This guy was really freaking out over it. I told him not to worry, that they were healthy bugs since they were in the hospital. It worked.

Fresh post-op LOL kept complaining to her family that a man was under the covers, grabbing her legs. Family didn't tell us, thinking that she was "just" hallucinating. Eventually, a nurse was in the room when the patient complained that the man was grabbing her legs again. Nurse lifted the covers to show the patient and family the SCD's on her legs.

This was YEARS ago...a patient going through DT's would shout "look out" everytime you walked into the room so you didn't step on the little poeple....finally he asked me..."Why don't the little people get stepped on?" I told him "It's because they are so quick they never get stepped on!" He never shouted again.

Quote from roser13Fresh post-op LOL kept complaining to her family that a man was under the covers, grabbing her legs. Family didn't tell us, thinking that she was "just" hallucinating. Eventually, a nurse was in the room when the patient complained that the man was grabbing her legs again. Nurse lifted the covers to show the patient and family the SCD's on her legs.

I worked neuro med/surg/stepdown/telemetry... So there are plenty that came to mind. One of my favorites was a little old lady that kept trying to get out of bed (hx of both dementia and subdural hemorrhage s/p fall). She kept telling me about a wedding she had to get ready for (she had owned a co-owned a banquet hall when she was younger). She kept talking about laundry (tablecloths, napkins) that needed "fixin". So, to play into that, I went to the linen closet and got an assortment of towels and pillow cases. I took them into her room, and asked her if she would mind helping me "getting ready for the wedding". I "picked" the laundry up when she finished, and brought her "more" (same pile just unfolded again) and kept repeating that night and the next night - she never once tried to get up out of bed on me My coworkers were kind of upset - I was the only one able to get her to buy into it Or the little old guy, who lived on a farm his entire life (barring the time he was stationed overseas in the service). Was very combative and actually in a net bed - there were many hallucinations he had frequently. One time, when I checked on the patient, the he was there in bed, rambling on and on and on about cows on the roof, how he can't count all of them there are so many.

a few weeks ago I was patient sitting for a combative pt with sundowners...he had been watching CNN, so he was CONVINCED someone was prowling the halls with a gun...he was in soft restraints and mittens because he kept yanking out his NG tube...anyway he kept telling me that there were people in the hallway with guns, that my parents were already dead and that my brother (don't have one) was screwing my mother LOL!!! Anyway the final one before the Haldol took effect was he told me that my parents were dead, and when I told him (again) that they weren't, he looked at me and told me "your mother raised a real dumbass didn't she?"

Quote from eatmysoxRNHad a patient who had some dementia. I came in to check on her at 2 am and she told me about the little mouse by the window. I assured her that everything was okay and she should go to sleep. At 4 I walked in and again she talked about the mouse. I glanced over and there actually was a mouse just sitting on top of the vent by the window. I freaked out a bit and she told me "don't worry honey. Atleast it's not a snake." Not a hallucination but it was so funny.

Quote from eatmysoxRNHad a patient who had some dementia. I came in to check on her at 2 am and she told me about the little mouse by the window. I assured her that everything was okay and she should go to sleep. At 4 I walked in and again she talked about the mouse. I glanced over and there actually was a mouse just sitting on top of the vent by the window. I freaked out a bit and she told me "don't worry honey. Atleast it's not a snake." Not a hallucination but it was so funny.

I worked on an end-stage dementia unit and there was a sweet little old lady across from the nurse's station with a serious poop fixation. I didn't realize how bad until Valentine's Day rolled around... The aide came out of her room and told me something stunk...like poo and I walked in and wandered around but all I could see was the very LARGE heart-shaped box of chocolates sitting on her dresser. Seriously, without scrutiny, it all appeared to be in order but that smell sure didn't belong, so I started to wander around the room and was following my nose to the source of the stench. Yet, each time, my nose brought me back to that innocuous looking box of chocolates. Finally, out of desperation, I glanced down into the open box and the only expressions that could have crossed my face were disgust and horror. It appeared each time she consumed a chocolate, she had been replaced it with a similarly shaped piece of poop. I would venture to guess that 25-50% of the box had been substituted when we had discovered her unpleasant little hobby. The box of chocolates was immediately disposed of and I spent the rest of my day fielding 101 questions by said resident regarding the whereabouts of her chocolate. I still have a difficult time eating chocolate out of those heart-shaped boxes...It bears mentioning this wasn't our first time dealing with this resident and adventures with poo...just the first time they involved food. Yes...the first time.