feeling bad after a rapid response on your patient

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talked to pt. after giving a tx. they were alert but very confused from a UTI. walked out to chart on it. getting all the carts and desk ready for the next shift, get called by my nursing aide that i need to see the pt. i walked into say about ~15-30 minutes later?

Pt. is heavily breathing but unresponsive. no response to a substernal rub with no response. couldn't get vitals except for a pulse ox of >90 while on o2 therapy. Supervisor in and a code was called. I did chest compressions, suctioning, etc.

I felt shaken, horrible. I mentioned to my co-workers that I've been having this intense feeling of dread and a dream of a pt. going to a code similar to this---now I feel like everyone thinks I'm insane. I was freaking out hard after the CPR and chest compressions and my mind was ready to think and panic so I felt very hjfskhdfklhskdhfj all over the place. thank god my shift was over. I'm an insecure nurse so do you think that I sound incompetent...? Or mentally unfit for the job. I feel horrible if I looked/sounded like a nutjob. I had this horrible feeling for the past few days of 'something will go wrong' and it happened!

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Specializes in Critical care.

Calm down- you aren’t the only one to feel like this and you certainly won’t be the last.

Did your team debrief after this all happened? If not, ask to do so in the future.

Do you have EAP available to you? I think most workplaces in the USA offer it and this is exactly what it is there for. You can also reach out to your manager and/or clinical educator if you want to talk about the situation clinically. A chaplain is also a good person to speak with if you just need to voice your feelings.

It’s reasonable to initially think about what happened and wonder “what if...?”, but you also have to be able to move past it. Take it as a learning experience and know you’ll be better prepared the next time it happens.

You got this! Good luck!

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Specializes in ICU and Dialysis.

Look, our jobs are not G-rated. These things can be really hard on you mentally, and everyone around you who isn't a sociopath understands that.

Don't fall into the trap of trying to place blame on yourself. It sounds like you did the right things, by notifying your supervisor and involving the appropriate people quickly.

And, take it from someone who knows: it is always harder to keep your head straight when it is your patient. When I was in ICU, most times when things hit the fan for someone in our unit our team would all jump in and push the primary nurse back to take a breather. One of the best code nurses I know, gets so bent out of shape when it's her patient that she can barely think straight. But point her at anyone else's patient and she is on like Donkey Kong. Getting freaked out when something happens doesn't make you incompetent, it makes you a human.

I agree with Ace, you should try and debrief as best you can. See if you can identify anything you could have done better, or if there were any signs of deterioration that might have been spotted. Do this not to place blame, but to attempt to improve your practice and make you feel more prepared for the future.

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Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.

I freaked out the first time I did real CPR on a human. Not while I was doing it - a day later. You didn't predict this or wish it on a patient but I'm wondering if subconsciously you might have been noticing that one or more of the patients was subtly sliding downhill?

You didn't indicate what unit you're on but it almost doesn't matter - a good subset of people in the acute care setting have numerous chronic and acute conditions and are pretty much thisclose to worsening to code status at any given minute. Hang in there.

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).

I'm sorry you're feeling such trauma, nurseandbeyond. AceofHearts, Night Owl, and ruby jane submitted outstanding posts.

We do the best we can in any given situation, hindsight is 20/20, and we're always going to see ways in which we could have done better.

It is good that you're attempting to deal with the situation by reaching out.

Keep on keeping on, nurseandbeyond.

The very best to you.

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I would only suggest that you not wait 15-30 minutes if a CNA tells you that a patient needs to be checked on. At the very least, ask for specifics and delegate vital signs while you quickly make your way to their room.
The charts can wait. ?

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@sourlemon let me clarify. 15-30 minutes later i got called and then i walked in

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Specializes in Psych, HIV/AIDS.

Nurse And Beyond, I got the impression that you had a dream and felt a foreboding feeling that something was about to happen. If this is the case, it seems that you had no control over what was about to happen, it almost makes me wonder if you have some psychic abilities. If that is the case, there is nothing you could have done differently to change the situation. You did very well with a hard situation of which you had no control.

My only suggestion is to be alert when these feelings/dreams come about, just be on the alert and hope for the best. Premonition dreams/feelings are out of our control. Do find someone to talk to about this trauma.

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You did everything you could. I have never had to do CPR, but I can imagine once it's done.. I would probably step away and cry. I can just imagine.

About the dream.. ugh I feel you so bad on this one it's crazy. I work in a nicu and we had a really sick baby who had turned a corner and was doing well. I had a dream that night that the baby had died. Arrived at work the following arvo at 3pm, he had been taken off respiratory support and monitoring, died just after 4pm ?

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