Peeing Patients

IISboy had a rant tonight about dirty patients. This reminded me (much to my chagrin) that I, IISgirl, have personally seen a patient pee not once, but TWICE in my pharmacy.

The first such occasion happened about a year ago. A woman was waiting for her prescription, and I'm not sure if 15 minutes was too long to hold it, or what... but she urinated on one of the waiting area chairs.

I did not personally witness the act of micturition, but I did notice things were looking a little moist as she walked away from the pick-up area. It wasn't until about 5 or 10 minutes later when an observant patient came up to me and told me that one of the seats was wet that I put two and two together.

"...clean up in the waiting area, please."

DO NOT EVER SIT IN OUR WAITING AREA. If you have to wait, take a stroll around the store or sit in your car for 15 minutes, but under no circumstances should you ever sit in those chairs! I have seen urine, vomit, and who knows what other bodily fluids leak, ooze, and seep over there. On a side note, I am told that late one midnight shift, someone started a small fire underneath one of those chairs.

On to my second story. There is not much to explain here. It was a hot, August day. One of our regulars, whom we wish wasn't a regular, came in to fill an Rx for Naftin for the 8th or 9th time that year.

A little history on her: she steals our carts. She digs through our dumpster. As for her fungus, it had gone beyond normal fungus, and it appeared as though a small shiitake mushroom was growing right off the end of her finger. No, she is not transient--just crazy.

And there she was, standing in front of register three, peeing. I do not believe this woman is incontinent. Just crazy.

AND SHE IS PEEING RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME AND A TECH.

What do you even say in that circumstance? I don't even know. Maybe you learn that in pharmacy school. In our lab at school, we interact with actors who are supposed to train us how to counsel patients and deal with difficult situations. I'm thinking we might learn that how to deal with the peeing patients in our second year. I'd have to check the syllabus.

She walked away, and we saw the telltale wet spot going all the way down her pants, and the puddle now blocking register three.

What else could I do?

"clean up at register three, please."

*sigh*

Another reason for me to leave the chain pharmacy in favor of a hospital upon graduation: they have nurse assistants to take care of those "accidents."

--IISgirl ... don't pee in my pharmacy, or else I will blog anonymously about you!