A bear wandered into a nursing home in Indiana, and staff lured it out with Rice Krispies and a walker. Colton Lord launches Club Nurse by sharing this real story and asking listeners to submit their own animal encounters from healthcare settings.
Welcome to Club Nurse. I'm Colton Lord, your host. By you being here today, it shows me that you are someone who wants to learn, grow, laugh, connect, and just let your emotions flow. We are here to share real stories and hear real-life experiences from real people. You are not alone in this, and Club Nurse is here to show you that. Don't forget to follow the show and share today's episode with someone you love. Now let's dive into today's What's up everybody?
Welcome back to Club Nurse. It's Colton, your host of this podcast. Thank you for being here. This is the first week that we're launching and it's been fun so far. And apparently we're gonna just stick to the theme of animals this week, uh, because we had talked about Nina with her photography of animals and the portraits that she does for people and how meaningful and impactful that can be for people when they're going through a difficult time. when they lose their pets to have those memories to look back on. This particular story that I'm about to tell you is crazy. We're sticking to the theme of animals, and because Nina was in Philadelphia and this situation I'm about to talk to you about also happened in Pennsylvania, so I don't know what's going on in the ether with Pennsylvania and the animals, but that's the theme of the week. So let's see here. This is a story from CBS News in Pittsburgh, I believe. Let me just double-check here. Indiana, Pennsylvania is what it's called, by the way. But this was from CBS Pittsburgh talking about a bear who broke into St. Andrew's Village, a retirement community in Indiana, Pennsylvania, on June 3rd, 2025. So basically the bear broke in. They think it was food motivated and the staff had to basically corral this bear and get it out. They were trying to use Rice Krispie treats to bait the bear to get it out. And what they ended up doing was there was a hero, a lead certified nursing assistant Charlene Elliott, who was able to get a walker and kind of just like guide the little baby bear, push them out the door. So nobody was harmed, no staff was harmed, no residents were harmed. And the best part too is the bear was able to be humanely captured and released back into the wild. So I'm so happy that there was nothing that happened with the bear either. But yeah, this is insane. Can you imagine you're just working and out pops a bear? I, I think that the only animals I have encountered in the hospital have been probably dogs and some cockroaches because I work in the city of Boston and there are cockroaches and bugs and mice. I've seen mice too. I've seen mice scurrying through. Disgusting. Um, I think I would rather see a baby bear walking through the hospital than mice. I'm just saying. Um, and then other animals are dogs. There's been multiple people who bring their dogs. And at first I used to think this was disgusting because I'd be like, who Who is bringing their dog to the hospital? And in some cases, yes, like ew, but you have to understand, okay? Some people who come to the hospital, A, may not have any resources other than to bring their dog, and B, if it's a service animal, sometimes those dogs are medically trained. Very far and few in between who actually come to the hospital are medically trained dogs to be there, but some are. And then the other thing is, you know, some people are unhoused and don't have anywhere to leave the dog, so of course they have to bring them. I have a specific one that comes to mind. I remember I was taking care of this patient and they had their dog who was very sweet when the owner was there, but then the owner had to go get some imaging done and they couldn't bring the dog in there. And so they left the dog in the room by itself. And the whole time that the patient was gone, the dog was just like on the bed barking so loud, like it was obviously in distress. And I wasn't gonna go in there because the room was closed. I don't know how this dog's gonna act with— to a stranger if their owner's not there. So I just let him bark. And thank Thankfully, it was just a CT scan, so it didn't take that long. But when a dog is just barking, barking, barking, barking, barking, barking, it seems like it's taking a while. So yeah, that's really my own personal experience with animals in the healthcare setting. But this particular case in Pennsylvania with this bear is wild. I'm like seriously, like whenever you can go watch the we have a link to the video in the article about this on nurse.org. But the the bear like literally shattered the window to get inside. So I don't know what kind of food they were cooking. I don't know what's going on with this facility. Facility, but that bear really wanted in there. And I'm just so happy that the bear was okay and relocated and that nobody was hurt, nobody was bit, nobody was clawed. Everything is fine. Okay, so yeah, that's just your quick little episode of today talking about a bear breaking in. If you have any crazy animal stories in the hospital, I would love to hear these. So DM us. You can DM nurse.org, you can DM me at Nurse Daddies or at Colton Lord 17, wherever you follow or want to message. Let us know if you've had any run-ins with animals in the hospital because I'm very curious about this now. Or not even just the hospital, if you work at a nursing home or any facility, I want to know. I want to know what— or if your place of work is not even in healthcare, if you work in an office building, I have no idea. I remember— oh my God, side note— I do remember I was a lifeguard when I was in high school, and I remember a bird I was indoor pool, by the way. I remember a bird getting stuck inside. So when you when you first walked in, it was like what do you call that? Like a vestibule, maybe. Like you first walk in, it's like an enclosed area, and then you have to go through another set of doors to get into the building. So it's just like this little area. Well, a bird somehow got trapped in there and just kept flying and doop doop doop into the window each time. Doop doop. I'm like okay, sir, ma'am, you're going to break your skull if birds even have skulls. Just kept Going at it. I had a video somewhere because I couldn't believe it. They were just flying straight into the window multiple times. I'm like, that's not— that's not working, bro. I don't know. I don't know how bird brains work. Obviously they thought maybe it was just gonna open like Platform 9¾ on Harry Potter, but it didn't. So yeah, I guess that's another story I have of an animal being trapped inside a workplace. Do I have any more? This is interesting now that I'm thinking about it. I've worked in many restaurants. Cockroaches, but I don't think any other animals were roaming The restaurants? No, I do have— oh my gosh, this, this memory just came flooding back to me. I was working one time at Outback Steakhouse as a server, and I remember I was at a table. It was a lunch shift. Thankfully we were not busy. And all of a sudden I just see a man running super fast through the restaurant with a hatchet, and then a police officer running right after him. He went into the bathroom, which was not a good idea. Where are you gonna go from there? Hello? And They arrested him. Nobody was hurt, thank God. Um, but yeah, I think that's the end of my animal experience in the workplace. Okay, thank you all for being here. Club Nurse, this is Colton. Love you guys so much. Uh, be sure to follow nurse.org, follow the show Club Nurse, that way you don't miss any episodes. Uh, follow wherever we're posting the podcast, make sure you're subscribed, that way you're getting the new episodes, you're not missing any, because we've got some great things coming up for you. Uh, you can follow me at ColtonLord17 or Nurse Daddies. So we'll see you guys later. Love you so much. Bye.
From the bottom of my heart, I wanted to thank you for being here at Club Nurse. I hope you gained something valuable from today's episode, and if you did, remember to share this episode with someone that you love. Follow me on socials at Nurse Daddies or Colton Lord 17, and be sure to follow nurse.org to stay informed with all of the hottest healthcare topics. Until next Take care of yourself the way you take care of everyone else. Love ya. Bye.
