Dealing with death as a student in clinicals?

Merlyn · Jun 24, 2012

I was wondering about this last night, and then I saw another post similar in another forum so I decided to post it.
Did any of you have to deal with a patient dying during clinical? The thought of this terrifies me! I don't know how i'd feel, handle it, or what I'd do. It's okay to cry? I'm just lost on this. I pray it never happens but I'm sure I'll encounter it.

My first patient in Med/Surg died 15 minutes after he was admitted. Death should not scare you. It is part of life. The most common emotion of a new nurse is, "Was it something I did to kill the patient." When you get over this you will be fine. It was just the patient's time to go. I've been a nurse for centuries. I have never seen a death of a patient that could be linked to the nurse. Not to say that it does not happen, but I have never seen it. I have worked in LTC most of the time. Death and I are old friends. I can feel when he is around. He's nothing to fear. As a nurse he will visit you from time to time. He's just doing his job as we do ours. Just like some old Greek said, "Where Death is there is no pain, where pain is there is no Death."

mssjez · Jun 24, 2012

Who's the author of the book? I'd like to read it!

Peggy Anderson is the author. And it's only about $8 at Barnes and Noble. Not expensive but a great read. She talks about her most difficult patients and why they were difficult. Keep in mind the book was published in 1976 so some references to patients being able to smoke are a little inaccurate, but its still a great perspective in terms of dealing with the emotional aspect of caring for patients and interacting with their families.

♑ Capricorn ♑ · Jun 24, 2012

Other than finding death a sad thing, why are we afraid of it? Why do we allow ourselves to get that close and personal with patients who have died that it affects us personally, emotionally and our judgement?

As nursing students, we probably won't have the adequate amount of time to really get to know our patients. They may be in one day and out the next or tranferred elsewhere. We may get to care for them only one day or several days. But, I don't see that as enough time merit a personal attachment or bonding with a patient. I don't mean to sound cold-hearted and I'm sure many of you will take it the wrong way, but in all honesty we don't "know" the patient. I think a level of detachment is in order just so it doesn't screw up our own personal lives. Because, guess what? People die, and nurses are around dying patients more often than not. It doesn't mean that I do not care, I do care. It doesn't mean I do not feel, because I do feel. I feel strongly sometimes. But, who can function or carry on with your lives if you're always worrying about who is going to go next? There is only so much a person can take, and I would think a line (mental line) would have to be drawn somewhere so don't get sucked in and pulled down yourself! I have had no formal classes on death and dying, yet. But, I do know enough from my own personal experiences that it is much easier to cope with it if its not on such a personal level. I am not afraid of death and I do accept it, if and when it does happen.

mkris117 · Jun 26, 2012

I was wondering about this last night, and then I saw another post similar in another forum so I decided to post it.
Did any of you have to deal with a patient dying during clinical? The thought of this terrifies me! I don't know how i'd feel, handle it, or what I'd do. It's okay to cry? I'm just lost on this. I pray it never happens but I'm sure I'll encounter it.

I just graduated in May and I have also been terrified at the thought of a patient passing while under my care! I have been afraid of death in general since I was a young child. During my preceptorship I had the opportunity to have clinical on an oncology unit (patients passing is pretty common on the unit) with a WONDERFUL preceptor. Sure enough, there was a patient who passed one night while I was there. As terrified as I was, my preceptor walked me through it. Fortunately the patient had a very long, fulfilling life (a former nurse herself). We were strong for the family but grieved quietly ourselves once the family left. And I've since accepted a position on that very unit! I'm thankful to have had my first experience with death while I was still in school so I didn't have to handle it alone! If it happens to you, don't be afraid to drag another student or your instructor in with you!

Jmarty31 · Oct 12, 2015

Yep, the first few are always awful, all 3 sadly were full codes. The first one I encountered we knew it would be bad as we had full gowns, we worked and they passed on. It was my first death and it was I think my second or third clinical shift. I admit I did cry a bit, you just have to take a moment, remember you're here to do everything you can, sometimes we do not win, we just have to make sure the next we do.

PS: I was walking out of another pt's room and almost walked into the deceased stretcher being pushed away.... Needless to say I needed a few minutes plus my foot hurt got, being rolled over.

just be strong when you encounter death and learn and as time goes losses will become less blah