First code O_O

[SaraO'Hara]

I was rotating on Med-Surg today (last clinical day this term too); a code blue was called in the ICU. A classmate and I were permitted to go watch - got to see the intubation, external pacemakers... I was just a bit surprised how calm everybody was.

The RT doing compressions was flagging a little bit, so the doctor asked around for who wanted to - and I got to :uhoh21: First time performing compressions on an actual human, but apparently I did a decent job; my classmate went next... unfortunately the patient expired.

If I recall right, his new grad RN found the pt unresponsive, no pulse / resps; started compressions and called a code. She was leaning against the wall looking rather like and talking about how she had felt all his ribs break under her hands.

[TraumaGirl1018]

The only way to get competent at codes is to do it repeatedly. Administering meds is just like administering meds in a non-code situation, expect that you say out loud when it's done.

Note taking is simple. Just write down what everyone else has done-they'll tell you, just write it and the time.

PALS and ACLS teach you what to do when you've got drugs, equipment, and personnel on hand. If one of your kids coded (which is highly unlikely and I hope never happens), you'd be doing BLS.

As far as being afraid of codes, look at it this way. The worst has happened, the person is dead; you can't make it worse, but you might make it better.

thanks, cyberkat! That is a good way of thinking about codes...the worst HAS already happened. Im still extremely new..and I am so terrified that my patient is going to go bad and i wont know what to do first...Ive only witnessed one code so far that wasnt my patient...its a scary thing for new nurses! well, i suppose its scary for older nurses too.

[EmmaG, RN]

Wow, how awful for that nurse who was working that night! I know if one of my parents was a pt in my hospital and they coded, I'd be hysterical too. Was she helping with the code, or just present in the room while everyone worked on her father? Either way, I would think that if she was truly that hysterical, perhaps someone should have tried to escort her out of there to someplace private so that the rest of the team could work w/o the distraction. But then again, I know families being present during resuscitations can be helpful with the grieving process afterward. So I dont know...

Hope someone let her go home early that night! How sad.

He wasn't her patient, and she didn't go in during the code but could hear what was happening from the doorway. She did leave early and the rest of the patients were split among the remaining nurses. It was a horrible experience for all involved