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Oh Tazzi!!
You are having such a hard time with this new specialty! Between hospice patients and wound care patients... I did a six week rotation in Home Health, and know that it's challenging enough when the cases go well.
Hope things turn around for you (and you patients! ) soon! :icon_hug:
I am beginning to get this reputation on step-down. The last 3 times I have worked over there I either had a patient go bad during my shift and I had to send them to the unit or they go bad shortly after my shift and either die or get sent to the unit. My nurse manager was even teasing me about it!! I just told my NM that she needed to quit putting me on SD.
One night we were joking that we were going to need to start a body count on the board because there were so deaths between just 2 nurses in our ICUs (only 3, but still that was a lot for one night!!)
Another nurse had 2 relatively young (40s) patients die in just two nights of work. We all teased him that we were not letting him near any of the young patients again.
My point is, that it is not just you going through something like this, and it is nothing you are doing to cause this! I think its a slump that we all go through at some point in time during our working careers. It stinks when you go through it, but look on the bright side things can only get better!
I work on an Oncology floor, I got off orientation 8 months ago, I have had a total of 10 patient deaths my most recent was the night before last. I have had more deaths than some of the more experienced nurses. Sadly the most current one died alone and was my first experience with having to call a family at 2AM. I talked with our chaplin after this last one because I myself was having a hard time with the fact that I have lost so many patients in such a short period of time. The chaplin told me that I was a gift to these patients in these final hours as I helped ease them from the pain and suffering they are experiencing in this life into the hands of God. I'm sorry you are having such challanges and I hope things become better. I know from lurking here and reading your previous posts that you are a very dedicated and caring nurse.:icon_hug:
In LTC, it's not unusual for the folks to go in batches......esp. when the seasonal viruses start coming thru, but also at the change of seasons. We just lost 9 this month (10% of census).......all different reasons. The weakest ones just don't seem to have the energy to live thru winter again. "thinning the herd"
TazziRN, RN
6,487 Posts
number four of six expired recently..........i think it's going to get around in the cancer centers, "if you need home health, make sure you don't get that nurse tazzi......"