Does it seem like it is usually the same ...

RNperdiem, RN · Sep 28, 2007

As a per diem nurse I tend to be assigned the less sick patients, and I work very part time. As a result, I have not had a patient die on me in many years. I work in a large level 1 SICU.

The more senior nurses are assigned the sickest patients, and have more codes.

bigsyis · Sep 28, 2007

No, fortunately I have never worked with a "trend-setter" when it comes to codes and poor-outcome patients. I would certainly think that somebody (coworker, management, SOMEBODY) would check the code sheets for any kind of commonalities if one nurse's name began to show up regularly.

Altra, BSN, RN · Sep 28, 2007

Every nurse that I know has had periods of time when he/she seems to be the " **** magnet" - myself included. Over the long run, this pretty much evens itself out.

And there are reasons for stats to be skewed, as has been pointed out -- more senior nurses assigned to higher acuity patients ... or in my case -- being assigned to the trauma or cardiac area of the ER.

leslie :-D · Sep 28, 2007

call me naive, but i don't see anything suspect.

it is reasonable that the most critically ill/traumatized, are going to crash and even die.

leslie

Alibaba · Sep 28, 2007

Every nurse that I know has had periods of time when he/she seems to be the " **** magnet" - myself included. Over the long run, this pretty much evens itself out.

So true! When I worked in a nursing home, I had a couple of patients die very close, in my opinion, together (like a week apart) on my shift. The third died on another floor ( u know they die in 3s )

Anyways, for a period I felt like I couldn't go to work or someone would die. After a few more shifts, my confidence came back full swing.

crissrn27, RN · Sep 29, 2007

So true! When I worked in a nursing home, I had a couple of patients die very close, in my opinion, together (like a week apart) on my shift. The third died on another floor ( u know they die in 3s )
Anyways, for a period I felt like I couldn't go to work or someone would die. After a few more shifts, my confidence came back full swing.

What is up with the dying in 3's thing? When does one 3 end and another begin? This has always confused me, lol.

Dixiecup · Sep 29, 2007

I work in LTC. Don't have any trendy nurses but we do have one room that every resident admitted to that room seems to die. We call it the death room. (only among ourselves of course!)

caliotter3 · Sep 29, 2007

This seems like kind of a morbid topic, but it stands to reason, that if you put a group of people with serious illness together in one group, sooner or later, they will pass away. Just a sad thing.

elthia · Oct 27, 2007

Bringing back on older thread.

Yes...my pt's always seem to be crashing. I'm really getting tired of getting the really sick ones that have been trending down all day, and when night shift rolls around," let's give that one to Elthia, 'cause she'll keep an eye on 'em!"

There are nurses with much more seniority and experience than me on my shift. WHO for some reason don't get these pt's, I do. Yes, it could be a compliment, but I'm tired, I have a headache, and it's been a crappy couple of weeks.

I mean it's not, oh this pt needs an RN, it's like, oh this pt's BP is 70/40, she's being bolussed right now, but she's gonna crash, we're probably gonna call RRT, and her nurse is off in 15 minutes, we should have Elthia pick this one up at 2300, neverminding that Elthia already has 5 pt's.

Or. this pt has UTI, WBC's are high, but he's getting hypothermic, and his last BP was lower than normal. So the first thing I have to do is call and suggest, maybe we should draw a lactic acid level, especially considering he's altered? Oh wait a minute, yes, there concerns he might be going septic, that's he why was given to Elthia, too late, he just crashed, Call the RRT, I think we need to bolus him, his BP is in the toilet, can I have a nonrebreather also please?

Or, pt s/p PTCA, had difficult maintaining hemostasis at cath site, was it the extremely large pool of blood she's laying in that makes you think that, or the extremely large grapefruit size hematoma at the cath site? Call RRT, and call the Cath lab, they are going to have to evacuate that hematoma, grab the doppler, I can't find pulses in that leg!

EmmaG, RN · Oct 27, 2007

Been there, done that. I hear ya Elthia...

MzMouse · Oct 27, 2007

Back when I worked LTC we had three patients die in the same bed in the span of about a day and a half. Did a little bed shuffling until no one could remember which was the "death bed".