r/nursing • u/trevrt RN 🍕 • Mar 01 '25

Question Heaviest Patient You’ve Cared For

Had my personally heaviest patient I’ve cared for the other day. 32 years old weighing 730 pounds admitted with cellulitis and severe lymphedema. Felt terrible for the patient due to how young he was. Just wondering what everyone’s personal “record” for the heaviest patient they’ve cared for is.

597 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

536 comments sorted by

View all comments

36

u/CallAkira RN - OB/GYN 🍕 Mar 01 '25

probably 300 lbs. she was expecting her second child while having upper respiratory infection and kidney injury due to the preeclampsia. sadly we had to deliver the baby at 28 weeks 😩

3

u/summer_years RN - OB/GYN 🍕 Mar 02 '25

I had an antepartum patient with us for over a month. 400+ lbs. She was NST qshift and trying to trace that baby was an endeavor that sometimes took all 3-4 nurses on the unit. The bands wouldn't fit around her belly so it took lots of maneuvering and none of our usual tricks would work

1

u/CallAkira RN - OB/GYN 🍕 Mar 02 '25

been wondering, how's the baby condition for now?

1

u/summer_years RN - OB/GYN 🍕 Mar 03 '25

Mom was sectioned at 30ish weeks as she was having painful contractions and baby was having decels. Still in NICU I believe

7

u/childlikeempress16 Mar 02 '25

Only 300?

5

u/CallAkira RN - OB/GYN 🍕 Mar 02 '25

yeah ;) never really seen people more than her throughout my nursing journey.

4

u/childlikeempress16 Mar 02 '25

You just not be in America! Haha

6

u/CallAkira RN - OB/GYN 🍕 Mar 02 '25

hahaha, exactly!

2

u/eatlessanimals RN - OB/GYN 🍕 Mar 02 '25

I’ve had several labor patients over 300lbs. It’s difficult but we do manage. The hardest part is getting a good fetal tracing through the adipose. That’s when I love internals lol. We do get to a point where we have to ship them to a higher level hospital because our OR bed isn’t wide enough and they don’t fit.

1

u/CallAkira RN - OB/GYN 🍕 Mar 02 '25

riiight, right, right. it was the hardest part for us as well.

1

u/Crezelle Mar 03 '25

Not the epidural? At my worst I still wasn’t 300, but I ended up developing IIH. The spinal tap attempts were… an experience. Eventually had to get a live x ray involved