I was put to the test tonight

[mom_coach_nurse, LPN]

Long story short, I'm on vacation in FL, in a retirement community where my Gram lived before she passed away. About an hour ago lying in bed, I hear screaming. I thought my mom had the tv up too loud. Then I heard it again & this time I heard a woman yelling "HELP!"

I jumped up and ran out the front door, telling my own kids to stay behind, to the neighbors house, where there is a man lying on the floor and another man giving him CPR. I called 911, but it was too late. The other man said he'd had no pulse for two minutes, but kept doing CPR till the medics came. By then it was about 5mns.

I start school 9-18 & after everything that happened, I am 110% sure that this is what I need to do. I want to help people. I've been leaning towards LTC after my experience with my Gram. I felt so bad as they wheeled him out into the ambulance & then it sat there for 30mns. Waiting for the ME I guess?

Also, I've known these people for years, they were good friends with my Gram. My heart hurts a little tonight.

[bubblejet50]

wow what a way to start your nursing journey! congrats on going to see if you could help. :) it is in scenarios like this that you find out if you like nursing or not. i had a situation much like yours that showed me that i like emergency nursing a lot. i always thought i would hate emergency nursing. it was my first semester of RN year. I had been working as an LPN for about two months by this time. I commuted 30 miles to my job through country roads. i saw the car in front of me slowing down and stop on the road. i looked around for deer and the people in the car in front of me came running to my car saying someone was lying in the road. the man was conscious and there was a motorcycle in the road about 50 yds away. i introduced myself, told him i was a nurse, and a lot of my lifeguard experience kicked in. i assessed his LOC, allergies, vitals, quick neuro check and history. i had a lifeguard supervisor who was an EMT prior to being a supervisor who told us if you suspected any injury, especially a possible spinal injury, that the patient is conscious always ask first if they have any allergies. the two people in the car in front of me were radiology techs from the local hospital. we got 911 and the man's wife called. but it was that incident that showed me i love stuff like that. oh he had hit a deer going about 60mph on his motorcycle but he was wearing all the protective equipment he could for riding a bike thank god! i told him that too.

[KristeyK]

So sorry you had that experience, but glad it made you realize you're taking the right road. I didn't have anything like that happen, however since I've been in school- someone in my family has gone through whatever it was we were studying that semester. (Except maternity thankfully! lol) Most recently, my dad was in a VERY serious rollover accident and required care when he was finally discharged from the hospital and rehab center. I had my dad get my mom to the ED QUICKLY last week because I suspected she was experiencing ARF- sure enough, her kidney function was down to about 15%. (She's fine now THANK GOD. YAY for good kidneys when they're taken care of!) Heck, even during our Peds rotation I had to take my son in for a fever of 105 that I could NOT break at home, no matter what I tried. It's funny, in a not-so-funny way, that so many of us seem to have things happen to us that know we made the right choice in the path we took to nursing.

[mom_coach_nurse, LPN]

Thank you for sharing your experiences with me :)