Don't clean up patient after a code

Nurses General Nursing

Published

A colleague told me that it's a consolation to the family if we don't clean up after a code. It reassures the family that we did all we could for their loved one.

My Dad died a few weeks ago. They coded him at the nursing home. He was a DNR, and someone at the home "didn't have the papers", so I'm screaming NO CODE on the phone at 0600.

Thank God he wasn't resucitated.

Anyway, I got to the ED, and they brought me into the room to tell me, and then the RN brought me to see my Dad. He was covered and the room was mostly swept. No tube. Nothing, but I didn't peek under the covers.

He had been gone awhile. He must have died in his sleep, and they found him on rounds.

The simplicity of him being in an empty room on a gurney was good enough for me.

I just wish they would have made sure his eyes were closed.

*deep breath*

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
My Dad died a few weeks ago. They coded him at the nursing home. He was a DNR, and someone at the home "didn't have the papers", so I'm screaming NO CODE on the phone at 0600.

Thank God he wasn't resucitated.

Anyway, I got to the ED, and they brought me into the room to tell me, and then the RN brought me to see my Dad. He was covered and the room was mostly swept. No tube. Nothing, but I didn't peek under the covers.

He had been gone awhile. He must have died in his sleep, and they found him on rounds.

The simplicity of him being in an empty room on a gurney was good enough for me.

I just wish they would have made sure his eyes were closed.

*deep breath*

I am so sorry for your loss. :( *hugs*

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Specializes in ED, psych.
My Dad died a few weeks ago. They coded him at the nursing home. He was a DNR, and someone at the home "didn't have the papers", so I'm screaming NO CODE on the phone at 0600.

Thank God he wasn't resucitated.

Anyway, I got to the ED, and they brought me into the room to tell me, and then the RN brought me to see my Dad. He was covered and the room was mostly swept. No tube. Nothing, but I didn't peek under the covers.

He had been gone awhile. He must have died in his sleep, and they found him on rounds.

The simplicity of him being in an empty room on a gurney was good enough for me.

I just wish they would have made sure his eyes were closed.

*deep breath*

I'm sorry for your loss, Farawyn. I can't imagine how tough that must have been. (((Gentle hugs))).

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
My Dad died a few weeks ago. They coded him at the nursing home. He was a DNR, and someone at the home "didn't have the papers", so I'm screaming NO CODE on the phone at 0600.

Thank God he wasn't resucitated.

Anyway, I got to the ED, and they brought me into the room to tell me, and then the RN brought me to see my Dad. He was covered and the room was mostly swept. No tube. Nothing, but I didn't peek under the covers.

He had been gone awhile. He must have died in his sleep, and they found him on rounds.

The simplicity of him being in an empty room on a gurney was good enough for me.

I just wish they would have made sure his eyes were closed.

*deep breath*

I'm so sorry about your dad. Wishing you peace and healing.

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Thank you all, and please, I don't wish to derail. Just trying to give a recent example, as a nurse and a family member's perspective.

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Thank you all, and please, I don't wish to derail. Just trying to give a recent example, as a nurse and a family member's perspective.

Your perspective is very important.

In my family there was the experience of me accompanying a family member to the ED after a loved one had passed; I encouraged the person to come in and say goodbye. My family member had no previous experience like this and it was an additional trauma. S/he stated, "I wish I could have just remembered him/her the way s/he was." I have a hard time thinking that not having things cleaned up a little bit would've helped - - we can't make people see or feel what we want them to. We may become a little dulled to the traumatic aspect of this, but others don't. Amidst all of our good intentions we must remember that.

((Farawyn))

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This is a little off topic. But I think the question has been answered with no dissent. An elderly man came via ambulance CPR in progress, coded a short time in ER and code called. Family came, saw their loved one and left. I took him to our morgue. A few hours later I get a call from registration. The man's adult grand daughter was here and wanted to see her grandpa.

I met her, told her he was in our old ugly morgue (I didn't use those exact words). But she still wanted to see him. So I went ahead, checked him, you could smell urine, so I sprayed apple scent air freshener around him. And brought her back. She was fine, stayed a short time and left.

To this day I wonder if she thinks of grandpa when she smells apples?

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Specializes in ER.

It sounds like this idea is just one trauma conference speaker's opinion.

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It sounds like this idea is just one trauma conference speaker's opinion.

I'll be curious whether it's actually a sort of paradigm shift that's coming our way, though. Thanks for bringing up the topic.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Gyn, Pospartum & Psych.

I went into nursing after my husband died (of cancer) in my arms. I have many widow/widower friends. We live the rest of our lives with the last image of our loved one. The funeral doesn't count because they don't look like themselves anymore. Clean them up as much as possible.

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Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.
I'll be curious whether it's actually a sort of paradigm shift that's coming our way, though. Thanks for bringing up the topic.

I'm wondering if this conference was geared more towards codes in the ER, rather than on the units in the hospital?

It's our hospital's policy to allow the family to be present during the code. This is usually most helpful when resuscitation efforts have become futile. They can physically see what is going on and can see the team in action. It has reduced the length of time spent "past the point of no return" on futile codes. We always clean up the room and the patient after a code. We allow the family to spend as much time as they wish with the patient, unless it's a coroner's case.

So, I think the trauma conference might have been presenting this from an ER perspective where family may have not yet had a chance to arrive before the patient died. Even then, I would hate to leave the room dirty, with all the wrappers, vials, syringes, etc., strewn about. I wouldn't want anyone to slip and fall on anything. I would think it would be a liability to leave the room in disarray.

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when you assume whether or not a case for the ME, how much more added time does that add on to the waiting family in the waiting room. I can see this as a complicated duty among you nurses-only to read a little bickering going on. WTD?

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