[prmenrs]

I had a horrible shift once, near code to code to take off everything and hold till s/he was gone, post-mortem care. While I was sitting waiting for Security to accompany me to the morgue, sort of in shell shock, the charge nurse grabbed the [dead] baby and told me we had to go pick up premie twins @ another hospital.

I'm telling you, I was useless. Fortunately, there was another nurse who was running circles around me, starting the IV's, hanging fluids; she would just tell me, "mix the abx" how many mgs, "get that one in the transporter", etc. Fortunately, I did most of the charting so she could be supernurse.

[preemieRNkate]

If staffing allows (which is usually rare) and the nurse wants to, we usually let him/her go home once all the work is done. I usually wind up with the end of shift code though. And sometimes, I feel better staying and being around other people who "get it."

[elizabells]

Originally Posted by preemieRNkate

If staffing allows (which is usually rare) and the nurse wants to, we usually let him/her go home once all the work is done. I usually wind up with the end of shift code though. And sometimes, I feel better staying and being around other people who "get it."

Wow. That would never, ever happen here. Send the kid downstairs, get housekeeping up to clean the spot, you're up for the next admit.

[RainDreamer]

Originally Posted by elizabells

Wow. That would never, ever happen here. Send the kid downstairs, get housekeeping up to clean the spot, you're up for the next admit.

That would never happen in our unit either. But luckily we're not usually up for next admit ..... gosh that would suck!

We're usually busy with paperwork and other stuff after a demise, so for the rest of the shift we might pick up another assignment or help out here and there, but we're never sent home.

[preemieRNkate]

Originally Posted by RainDreamer

That would never happen in our unit either. But luckily we're not usually up for next admit ..... gosh that would suck!

We're usually busy with paperwork and other stuff after a demise, so for the rest of the shift we might pick up another assignment or help out here and there, but we're never sent home.

It has happened maybe once since I've been here (3.5 years).

[elizabells]

One night the girl next to me got an admit, who died, postmortem care and documentation was done, spot was cleaned, and she got another admit. It was UNbelievable.

[preemieRNkate]

Originally Posted by elizabells

One night the girl next to me got an admit, who died, postmortem care and documentation was done, spot was cleaned, and she got another admit. It was UNbelievable.

Wow, that really stinks. At least if we can't send the nurse home, we try to give her a nice assignment for the rest of the shift.

[elizabells]

Originally Posted by preemieRNkate

Wow, that really stinks. At least if we can't send the nurse home, we try to give her a nice assignment for the rest of the shift.

If I remember right, THAT admit died on the same nurse the next night, in fact.

[RainDreamer]

Originally Posted by elizabells

One night the girl next to me got an admit, who died, postmortem care and documentation was done, spot was cleaned, and she got another admit. It was UNbelievable.

Oh my gosh, that's HORRIBLE!! Luckily our charges are pretty good and anytime someone has a demise they'll just have them help out here and there like I said, if possible. But when we're busy they just make an assignment from someone else's and then have another person an admit spot. Lucky for us, we usually have 3-4 admit spots available and MOST nights we don't get more than that, although it happens.

One demise right after another, 2 nights in a row ..... yikes!! That's so incredibly draining, I would burn out so fast

[babiesRmylife]

When my 1st baby that died I really didn't have to deal with the family much because the mom was in the ICU on a vent & the dad lived out of town & couldn't make it to the hospital. Family had made up their mind to withdrawal care, which was the best possible choice they could have made for the baby (as cruel as that sounds). The nurses were sure the baby didn't die alone since the family couldn't be there & we did the footprints & handprints for the family. The hardest part was carring the baby down to the morge knowing I was the 1st person to EVER hold this precious child. I was fine while I was at work, but once I got home that day I began to cry.

The 2nd death I had, there were probably 10 family members at the bed & we were withdrawal care due to NEC. It was the hardest death I think I've ever experienced. And you NEVER get used to a child dieing, they are far too innocent & have so much life left. Well we took the baby off the vent & took the baby & all the family to a private room so they could spend the last few moments with the baby taking pictures & just holding the baby. I just cried with the family. Thats really all you can do. There's no other way to express how hard it is & I think the families really appreciate seeing the nurses emotions knowing how much we too love their baby.
You just give the family as much time as they need with the baby, start making funeral arrangements if they want the funeral home to come get the baby or if they want to personally take the baby to the funeral home, etc. Let them take pictures, & you make them a memory box with a lock of hair if they have enough to take, make handprints & footprints, take anything from their bed you think they would like. We put the arm band in, a blanket, a little stuffed animal, a diaper, pictures we have, & anything else we can think of that we think will be something special to them.