Every Nurse has that one patient they'll remember forever

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Aug 13, 2015

Her name was Lisa. She was a mature 19 year old who delivered a premature baby. Lisa was really, really sick with preeclampsia. In the ICU. Her baby's IV came out one day, and we were only allowed to take babies without IVs out of the NICU to see ill moms. (It was 1980- there were reasons, but I forget them now) Lisa had never seen anything but a picture of her baby as she had general anesthesia for the c-section. Just as I got everything arranged to take Lisa's baby down to see her, one of my co-workers triumphantly announced that she'd replaced the baby's IV, thinking she had done me a favor. And so I didn't take the baby down to see Lisa.

And the next day, Lisa coded and died of a massive pulmonary embolism. Without ever having seen her baby. And it haunts me to this day......35 years later.

sashapuppy · Aug 13, 2015

Omg that is the saddest thing I've ever heard ðŸ˜¢

sissiesmama, ASN, RN · Aug 13, 2015

I remember Al. He was the patient where I had to unzip the body bag when his autonomic nervous system kicked in and the bag started to move with his weak respiratory efforts. ..and code him again.
Sorry Al.
Try explaining THAT to the family!

Oh noooo!

DNS.RN78 · Aug 13, 2015

Most of the patients I have are happy, as I am a labor and delivery nurse, but not all of them. I remember this one because of a variety of reasons that I won't go into, but she was a mom with a full term IUFD(fetal demise) that I labored and delivered. It wasn't a great situation at all, but I remember caring for the baby and holding her because the parents could not do it. I also remember us taking photos of the baby and giving them to the grandparents in case the parents ever decided they wanted them. It rips a hole in me thinking about this, and how sad this situation was for the nursing staff, but most of all the family and the parents.

As a Mom who has had a twin infant demise (albeit premature), THANK YOU for doing that for them. We were too scared and broken to ever hold or see our boys, and so we never knew what they looked like, or held them. Not taking the chance to hold my boys while they were alive is my biggest regret in life, and the reason I went into nursing. I am eternally grateful to the nurses who held my babies and were with them when they died. Thank you for being that for them.

guest769224 · Aug 13, 2015

The 20 year old male, full arrest.

Injected 33 grams of caffeine into his veins. He got scared, called 911, rushed him to our ICU, only to begin a nearly 2 hour code. He did not make it.

Afterward, his family entered the room. A foreign family, not speaking any english. His little siblings at the bedside with wide eyes, couldn't have been older than 3 or 4, his mother, with tears streaming down her face silently holding his lifeless hand, his father, on the floor wailing in grief.

A few of us did break down in tears, it was a very sobering experience.

decembergrad2011, BSN, RN · Aug 13, 2015

Will never forget the L&D nurse that I cared for while she was dying of leukemia. Especially not after having all of her co-workers deliver my baby a year later. Many of them came to my room even though they weren't my nurses just to chat about her.

Will NEVER forget the patient, Ms. W, who bought my daughter an outfit while I was pregnant. She had AML and eventually had spinal fractures that rendered her immobile. She was a high maintenance patient, very picky, and before her illness had maintained her appearance well. She annoyed me at first but I grew to love her. She would talk to me about her life. I loved her daughter, her husband. I cared for her so much that we exchanged phone numbers, which is something I never do. Her husband called me when he was bringing her into the ER when I was 35 weeks pregnant...he knew it was the last time and he wanted her admitted to my floor so she could die there. She was admitted to our floor and I helped bathe her the last day that I was working on the unit. I told her that I would be back Thursday and Friday and that I would make sure that I was her nurse. The next day, I had a doctor's appointment and was admitted for sky high blood pressure. I ended up staying a few days before delivering. I remember tearfully making my colleagues promise to tell her I wanted to be there but I couldn't be because of the baby. Her daughter came to visit and wished me well. I stayed in the hospital and just kind of left afterward. I went home and didn't do much because it was a harsh winter and my daughter had bilirubin checks/annoyances. I brought my one month old daughter up to the unit to see her when I heard she was declining at the urging of my coworkers. I had horrible post-partum depression, it was freezing outside in January, and I had a preemie, but I needed to see her. She was barely moving and could only give me a stroke-esque smile, but I held her hand and hugged her and told her that I loved her. She passed a few days later. It still haunts me that I didn't come back to take care of her like I had promised.

It never seems fair with cancer. I remember so many of them because they are taken care of for weeks, months at a time and we do it for years...until they hit remission, relapse and start again, or die.

I also will never forget some of my patients from clinicals.

sissiesmama, ASN, RN · Aug 13, 2015

The one that sticks in my mind the most - one of my old LPN instructors got admitted to our med-surg unit with a diagnosis of breast Ca - had a mastectomy with the TRAM procedure.

She didn't do well, and stayed on our unit for weeks - she finally was able to be d/ced with home health -

She was admitted through the ER a few months later septic - she was SO very sick - but still with it and tried to stay positive. I was in giving her some meds, and she was talking about the things she was going to buy her kids (she had 4 school-age kids at home) for Christmas and I couldn't hold the tears back.

As sick as she was, and she just patted my hand - comforting me.

She was with us another week - - I can only remember 2 other funerals of former pts that I attended - and never one that stuck with me like hers did.

Anne, RNC

Tenebrae, BSN, RN · Aug 13, 2015

I recall this gorgeous duck

She'd fallen and we had to get the hoist to get her up. She said in the most gorgeous english accent "dont worry about me dear, just roll me in the corner and chuck a blanket over me"

Adele_Michal7, ASN, RN · Aug 13, 2015

I recall this gorgeous duck
She'd fallen and we had to get the hoist to get her up. She said in the most gorgeous english accent "dont worry about me dear, just roll me in the corner and chuck a blanket over me"

Duck?

Julesmama28 · Aug 13, 2015

I haven't been a nurse long, but in the ICU I've had the privilege of experiencing some heart wrenching things.

One was a young guy in his 30's, had taken off his seatbelt to grab something on the floor of his car and accidentally drove off a cliff.

Needless to say he was pretty broken when he finally reached us. His family decided he would not want to live that way and removed support the same day he came in, only waiting for his young daughter to come say goodbye.

When she was standing by his bedside, talking to him about how much she was going to miss him...I lost it. Was bringing tissues into the room for the family and had to leave to get some for myself.

RN BSN

Tenebrae, BSN, RN · Aug 13, 2015

Duck?

Aftectionate term for 'dear'

Stitch3296 · Aug 13, 2015

Don't start my job as a new nurse for a couple more weeks, but I have several patients that have stuck with me from my clinical experience.

I will never forget one of my 1st patients, she had dementia, loved coffee and had a thing for pants that were too long. I can't count how many cups of coffee I got her! And if my scrubs (or my classmates) were even touching my shoes she would yell at us to pull our pants up. "You're gonna fall" she would say. She would only be silent when we hiked our pants up like high-waters! Every time I buy new scrubs, I think of her when I try them on...and smile if they're touching my shoes!