Death at Clinical

MissyBee4983 · Apr 10, 2014

I work as a CNA in a nursing home and was in the room for one death so far. It is sad, in my case the resident was in a lot of pain so it was pretty much a blessing. I'm sure we will see a lot of death throughout our careers!

smoup · Apr 10, 2014

My first job after undergrad was in a nursing home so I saw a fair share of deaths. The one that hit me the hardest from a surprise factor was a patient I had been talking to less than an hour before she died. There were so many more while I was there also. I now work in an ER doing patient registration so I have seen many people who have just died and then had to go talk to their family members. I try to get to the family before the doctor notifies them.

Death is definitely part of the health care profession in almost all areas. You just never know.

ReOxyS · Apr 10, 2014

I wasn't there for the exact moment (it happened at midnight), but I went in to see my mother about 15 minutes to half an hour after she died. It was very jarring, because she was completely ravaged by cancer. She looked exactly like the images of holocaust victims. Took me a long time to get over it.

I was there just after my great-grandmother died, as well. Her appearance wasn't upsetting at all - she looked very peaceful.

Seeing the women who brought me into the world destroyed like that is the worst thing I could ever have imagined, so I'm not too afraid of anything I might see as a nurse/student nurse. Sure, it'll be sad, but I don't think anything will ever shake me at my core the way that did.

SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP · Apr 10, 2014

We had to do post-mortem care for a patient last semester. I will never, ever forget her! They had 3 of us in our clinical group do the after care and we took the patient to the morgue. We barely knew her and we were so teary-eyed. The hardest part was zipping up the bag. She was still so warm. It felt strange that she wasn't going to open her eyes and sit up.

I cried a lot that night, wondering if I could handle having to do it again. Yes, I know I can. But it does take a little toll on you the first time.

smf0903 · Apr 10, 2014

Mine didn't happen at clinical but I was there when my dad died. It was the first time I ever heard Cheyne-Stokes breathing. We knew it was coming and had put him under hospice care (he was in a nursing home). From a student nurse standpoint it was interesting to look back and see the signs of impending death. As a daughter I am so glad I was there at the end. I was able to hold his hand and watched as he took his last breath. I will be forever thankful that I was there at the end. My husband and I stayed for nearly 2 hours after my dad passed (we had to wait about an hour for the hospice nurse to arrive) and left when the funeral home arrived. I learned a lot from the experience with my dad. I think because it's still relatively fresh it has impacted me in regards to how I deal with certain issues that come up in clinicals. I miss my dad

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Apr 10, 2014

One of the most important transforming experiences in the process of becoming a nurse - being 'present' at the end of life. Usually a sad event even when it was expected, but oftentimes a release from suffering. I have always believed that it is a privilege and honor to provide support to the patient & his/her loved ones at this time.

It is a uniquely 'nursing' experience that sets us apart from others. I have never encountered a nurse who hasn't thought about how he/she would prefer to die after bearing witness to the death of a patient. We know that it isn't scary & usually not very dramatic. We see it close up; the moment when a person's 'humanity' leaves the body. Very humbling.

mzrainydayz, BSN, RN · Apr 10, 2014

The first time I ever saw this was when I was at a med surg clinical. As soon as we got to the floor this patient was in his room we walked by and said oh he looks bad. A second later the nurse went in and he crashed. She called a code and started CPR. We got to see the entire code, it was like watching an episode of Greys Anatomy or ER. Unfortunately the patient didn't make it, our instructor and the entire clinical group did post Mortem care on this patient. It was scary a little but a great opportunity to actually do it. We prayed over the body first, then took out the NGT and IV, cleaned the body from head to toe, put on a clean gown, covered the body with sheet, and packed up his belongings. The weird thing was as we were doing this the patient phone kept ringing(I was like only if this person knew). I had never experienced or done this before but I knew I had to stay calm and be professional.

iPink, BSN, RN · Apr 10, 2014

I had a patient die in my arms during my first year as a new grad nurse. It was a total shock to me. There I was comforting her because she was upset her estranged father had visited her in the hospital. I didn't want to bring up the past but I asked her about her relationship with her own daughter and she loving said it was good so I focused on that aspect and began to encourage her. Then all of a sudden she lays back in the bed and becomes unresponsive. I felt for a pulse, none was there, and because she wasn't a DNR I called a code and started chest compressions. That was the first time I did compressions on a real person vs a mannequin. Everyone came (including nursing supervisors and managers, EMT and nursing students) and for 45 minutes of trying to resuscitate her, she was gone. It wasn't until my nursing manager gave me a hug that I broke down and cried the ugly cry in her arms.

When I told her what happened, she was proud that I was there for the patient during her last few moments, even if they was unexpected. No matter how experienced you are, a death is never easy. I was in a daze the rest of my shift but managed to still provide care to my patients; none of my patients knew I had just lost a patient. And when they assigned me a new patient the Charge nurse at least didn't place the new patient in the same room where I had experienced the death early.

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Apr 10, 2014

Does your school have a counseling program? I believe it is important to be able to talk about these types of experiences. You will have a grieving period of your own. I wish you peace

Guests · Apr 10, 2014

I have always believed that it is a privilege and honor to provide support to the patient & his/her loved ones at this time.

Quoted for emphasis and agreement.

We know that it isn't... usually not very dramatic.

Generally, quite the contrary... which I found somewhat surprising at first.

Parenthetically, on occasion in response to overly dramatic patients who insist on screaming and saying, "I'm dying, I'm dying" I've responded, "You're not dying... I've seen lots of people die and one thing they all have in common is that they're very quiet... now try to be strong and give us time to get you feeling better."

I feel like it's dishonoring the truly dying for a drama queen/king to adopt that mantle just like I feel it's dishonoring to the truly malnourished of the world for someone like me to say, "I'm starving" to mean "I'm quite hungry."

I'm about as jaded as they come... and cynical... but I take dying very, very seriously and truly consider it an honor to be able to enter in to one of the two most intimate experiences a person and their family will ever undergo (probably because I have faced a number of deaths in my immediate family.)

OrganizedChaos, LVN · Apr 10, 2014

The first time I saw a death was at my first job in a nursing home. I remember I was so shocked. She was a younger resident & I was talking to her the day before. It was so weird. She didn't pass on my shift but I helped when I came in. I had never seen anyone die before, my grandparents live several states away so I never went to a funeral.

Anywho, once the funeral home got there they needed help transferring her. I still can't believe I said this, but I said, "I have to touch her???". I feel terrible about it but I had never experienced death before. I was told to just hold the mattress while they transferred her. Oy.

I hope the next time this happens to me I don't do that.