A car stops in front of the ER entrance, the back door opens and we see feet. The tech jumps in to check the man and we see him start chest compressions. The (feet first syndrome). A stretcher is brought to the car and the patient is pulled out onto it. We work on him until our protocols are exhausted but he dies.
The family will remain in my mind for a long time. I watched them go through the shock into the tears and on through to the planning stage smoothly, quietly, and together. When they were leaving, the wife asked if we were all okay.
In all my years I don't remember family members wondering how the death of their loved one affected us.
This day continued with several more critical patients among the non urgent ones.
And somewhere in between things a registration clerk came out of her office grasping her throat. (The universal sign for choking) A nurse saw her and grabbed her around the waist and did what we are trained to do and then went on about her business taking care of her patients.
The clerk was okay but shaking. Just another day in the life of a nurse.
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I think that we forget that the death of a person the medical staff is taking care of can effect them.
When my Dad died in Hospice, I made it a point to go to all the personnel who had cared for him and thanked them. He would have if he could have. He couldn't so I did.
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