Strange experiences with deceased

night owl · Jun 25, 2001

had an experience that i'll never forget! when i was a na right out of high school, i had my first experience with actually working with a dead body. after we did postmortum care and was ready to bring the body to the morgue, myself and another co worker got onto the elevator with the deceased. the doors closed, the elevator started to move and suddenly the body let out this blood curdeling gasp and the body sat straight up on the stretcher! well, as soon as those doors opened up, both of us ran out and the body continued to ride the elevator by itself and probably for about 15 minutes or so before we decided to back. it scared the living daylights out of us!!! and there he was sitting up . it was a miracle that he never fell over! we went back into the elevator and lowered him back down. we had to be looking as pale as the body we were so scared...brought him to the morgue as fast as we could and ran back to the unit. never told anyone about it either... to this day after 24 years in nursing i panic when someone expires and pray that i don't have to transport the body to the morgue!

RNPD · Jun 25, 2001

Had a DNR pt expire. Tried paging the attending after he was pronounced by the HMD, but no answer. Ten minutes later the attending comes to the NS and asks for the chart. I watch in amazement as he starts writing orders (the standard "CBC & SMA7 in the AM"). I say "what are you doing?" "Writing orders", says he. "Have you seen the pt?" I ask. "Yes, just now, why?" he asks. "You actually saw him?", "Yes, I did?". "That's funny" I say, "he expired around 20 minutes ago, that's why I paged you". He admitted that he walked to the doorway, saw the patient "sleeping" and walked out w/o actually examining him! But he sure intended to charge for a visit-and probably did anyway!!

Charles S. Smith, RN, MS · Jun 25, 2001

Originally posted by Goofball
What about all those pts we see who die?
Anyone have strange at-death or after-death experiences with them?

Early in my nursing career I was working in a RICU (respiratory ICU). We had a woman who was in our unit because she was having multiple arryhthmias and no room in the CCU. She coded on us and we initiated CPR and the full protocol. She came back only to code again in about 4 minutes. We repeated everything again. There were about 7 people in the room (teaching hosp) and when she came out of this episode, she looked at us and said something to the effect "why are you doing all this, I am going home and it is beautiful"...only to code again. She actually coded 5 times before she finally died. Each time she responded between codes appropriately, lucidly and adamantly that we should not do what we were doing because she was "going home'. She was so sweet and peaceful and I cried for her. I have never forgotten her even after all these years.

chas

BeBeSweet · Jun 25, 2001

Years ago,I worked in a long term facilty that had dormer style rooms..3 beds to a room. The man who had the first bed would always pull the covers up around him and over his head..somewhat like a shroud, when he went to bed. One night , the man at the far end of the room passed away. The funeral home attendants, being somewhat upset about a 3 a.m. call did not want to listen to the instructions we were trying to give,walked down the hall muttering something akin to "We've done this for years,know what we are doing". What else could we do but watch and laugh as they ran out of the room screaming. They had gone to the wrong bed, and the shroud man,rightfully indignant from his rude awkening,sat straight up and let them have it.Those years of experience really came in handy! :eek: