family member misinformed of mothers death.

Nurses General Nursing

Published

you know sometimes you don't know if you should laugh or cry. you know there are nights when you two patients that a so similiar its freaky. my co-worker had that night. one patient passed who was a DNR passed away suddenly and the other patients son called to check on his mother. my co-worker told the son of her patient that was still alive that she had just passed away. when he yelled "WHAT?" she quickly realized it was the wrong son and started what i can assume was a very painful, embarrassing explaination. he drove back to the hospital during the middle of the night to make sure his mom was indeed okay. i feel bad for the son but i am so glad that i was not in my co-workers shoes that night.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Oh Wow! That is the funniest thing I have ever heard. I feel bad for your coworker, but wow. Thanks for posting this story. I wish I had one similar but nothing tops this.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I got one. An RN in a night shift had a patient passed away at around 0200. She rang the family - the wrong family! She didn't realize until about half an hour later when she was packing the body's property...another RN spotted the mistake. From then on we were strongly reminded to check with another RN before we ring a family member.

Add - The patient's son was already en route when he was told.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

years ago, i was doing charge in ccu and got a call from er that they had two patients for me: richard thomas and thomas richards. (ok -- not their real names, but you get the idea. first names for last names, and their names were similar, only in reverse.) both were ruling in for mis. it was a busy day, and we had folks transferring in and out, going off to surgery, etc. i had to transfer a patient out and send another to or before i'd have the two beds.

after about an hour, er called back and told me that they only needed one bed -- richard thomas had died. but since i had a bed, they'd be sending me thomas richards right away. so up comes a patient. the nurse who was taking him took report, explained the visiting hours to his family, and started doing an assessment. i was standing at the desk when a family member came up to me. "i'm richard thomas' son, and i can't find my dad anywhere. the er sent me up here."

i reluctantly and gently as possible told him how sorry i was, but mr. thomas had passed away. he was understandably distraught -- as was i -- but things rapidly got worse when thomas richards' family were brought back in to visit. his wife took one look at the patient in the bed and started shrieking "that's not him. that's not my husband!" mr. thomas' son, of course, heard the commotion and glanced into the room to see his father lying in bed, goggle-eyed and trying to withdraw as far as possible from the crazy woman standing over his bed and shrieking.

turns out that thomas richards, not richard thomas had died. i don't know if the er got the names mixed up at the start, or if i got the wrong message when they called me. the patient in our bed had paperwork that said thomas richards and richard thomas both. i felt like an absolute ass, the families were both upset and neither my manager nor the nursing supervisor were amused. the cardiologist on call was the admitting physician for both patients, and i'm not sure he had them straight either, but that didn't stop him from expressing his displeasure with me. in fact, the only person that wasn't angry was richard thomas, who was so relieved not to be dead that he found the whole thing funny in the extreme. for a while, i got a card every year on the anniversary of his admission saying "just want you to know i'm still not dead."

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Oh Wow! That is the funniest thing I have ever heard. I feel bad for your coworker, but wow. Thanks for posting this story. I wish I had one similar but nothing tops this.

Really? :eek:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
in fact, the only person that wasn't angry was richard thomas, who was so relieved not to be dead that he found the whole thing funny in the extreme. for a while, i got a card every year on the anniversary of his admission saying "just want you to know i'm still not dead."

:yeah: well, they won't forget you :)

but geez, that was a disaster waiting to happen from the get go.... one place i worked used to move people if there were two names that were too close....

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

My parents had a similar situation happen. Several years ago my brother was in an accident. He arrived at the hospital at the same time as another trauma patient from another accident. My brother had multiple leg fractures. The other patient died. Guess whose parents were told that their son died? Just hope they got things straightened out before they told the parents of the other kid that their son needed surgery for his broken leg.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
years ago, i was doing charge in ccu and got a call from er that they had two patients for me: richard thomas and thomas richards. (ok -- not their real names, but you get the idea. first names for last names, and their names were similar, only in reverse.) both were ruling in for mis. it was a busy day, and we had folks transferring in and out, going off to surgery, etc. i had to transfer a patient out and send another to or before i'd have the two beds.

after about an hour, er called back and told me that they only needed one bed -- richard thomas had died. but since i had a bed, they'd be sending me thomas richards right away. so up comes a patient. the nurse who was taking him took report, explained the visiting hours to his family, and started doing an assessment. i was standing at the desk when a family member came up to me. "i'm richard thomas' son, and i can't find my dad anywhere. the er sent me up here."

i reluctantly and gently as possible told him how sorry i was, but mr. thomas had passed away. he was understandably distraught -- as was i -- but things rapidly got worse when thomas richards' family were brought back in to visit. his wife took one look at the patient in the bed and started shrieking "that's not him. that's not my husband!" mr. thomas' son, of course, heard the commotion and glanced into the room to see his father lying in bed, goggle-eyed and trying to withdraw as far as possible from the crazy woman standing over his bed and shrieking.

turns out that thomas richards, not richard thomas had died. i don't know if the er got the names mixed up at the start, or if i got the wrong message when they called me. the patient in our bed had paperwork that said thomas richards and richard thomas both. i felt like an absolute ass, the families were both upset and neither my manager nor the nursing supervisor were amused. the cardiologist on call was the admitting physician for both patients, and i'm not sure he had them straight either, but that didn't stop him from expressing his displeasure with me. in fact, the only person that wasn't angry was richard thomas, who was so relieved not to be dead that he found the whole thing funny in the extreme. for a while, i got a card every year on the anniversary of his admission saying "just want you to know i'm still not dead."

:lol2::lol2::lol2::lol2:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.
Oh Wow! That is the funniest thing I have ever heard. I feel bad for your coworker, but wow. Thanks for posting this story. I wish I had one similar but nothing tops this.

So I know that sarcasm isn't always apparent when written, but really? You think this is funny?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I think it's funny in a dark sort of way. Not to take away from the seriousness of it all, but a massive comedy of errors is hilarious.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

This is one of the most amazing stories about mistaken identity:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_Cerak

Up Vote Up Vote ×
in fact, the only person that wasn't angry was richard thomas, who was so relieved not to be dead that he found the whole thing funny in the extreme. for a while, i got a card every year on the anniversary of his admission saying "just want you to know i'm still not dead."

classic!

a nightmare scenario, but your misfortune made my day. :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment