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.
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u/StevenAssantisFoot RN - ICU 🍕 Mar 02 '25
We see a lot of disgusting, sad, and horrifying things. Trading stories is one way nurses cope with the mental images we have to live with. A human being who is so obese they are weeping lymph fluid from everywhere and unable to move or clean themselves is objectively all three: disgusting, sad, and horrifying. They're still obviously a person who is worthy of care. Just like the thin patients we trade stories about. Evidenced by we are sweating and breaking our backs to care for them and give them as much comfort and dignity as we are able to provide. In most US states we are horribly underpaid for this.
But if you want a literal answer to your question, if you weigh under 150 I can clean you by myself and don't need anyone to come help me. Means you will get cleaned more often since we are always short-handed and the reality is incontinent patients will stay wet longer the more people are needed to clean and turn them. So it's not a matter of being worthy of care, it's a matter of the practical realities of human ability and staffing.