First Code

systoly · Oct 17, 2011

My first code was totally unexpected (imagine that) and very messy. I had no gloves and victim vomited violently. A bystander gave me a shirt to wipe off some of the stuff. The rescue crew had me continue CPR while they got their equipment hooked up, so before the switch over I could see what I was doing on the monitor, but that was the only good thing about it.

MomRN0913 · Oct 17, 2011

First code freaked me out and everyone else in my unit too actually. It was a bad one for my hospital. 60 yo luncg CA pt with a clot ready to blow awating a bed at another hospital for surgery. Well, he got up to pee at 2am and it blew. Blood gushing out of his nose and mouth he knew what was happening. Messy, scary, sad.......

Most interesting was the cardiac tamponade case. She was a young woman, complaining of pain in her abd and lower back on the floor. She did have a small pericardial effusion noticed that day. When the hospitalist saw her, because of the unrelenting pain, he had a pretty good idea of what was happening. They wheeled her down the hall in out ICU. When I got up from my seat to help her in the room, I noticed her HR was 33 on the protable monitor and she was unresponsive, and we coded her by the sink for an hour. The cardiologist was in the house thank god, did an echo by the sink, practically in the nurses station, and inserted a central line into the pericardial sac to drain the fluid. A pulse came back, it was too late and she coded again later in the night. In her 40's, very sad.

nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN · Oct 17, 2011

As horrible as the ones I've seen since -- ruptured esophageal varices, a lung ca bleed out, people who've been down so long rigor has set in, colon CA/GI bleed where every time you pushed down blood shot out and was dripping off the bed -- I'll always remember that first death, and it was the town druggie who was upset that I wouldn't give her "extra" shots of IV demerol, so she had a buddy bring her a vial of coke. She was in for EF of 10-15% and SOB on exertion....we found her with the coke around her nares and the vial in her hand. We coded her for 30 minutes, but she finished off that 10-15%. I'd never seen a code, had been on the job about 4 hours, didn't even know the code to get into the med room. My contribution to the code was to throw the furniture into the hallway so the code team could get the equipment into the room.

systoly · Oct 17, 2011

.....My contribution to the code was to throw the furniture into the hallway so the code team could get the equipment into the room.

throwing furniture? - I'm calling security

recovering nurse · Oct 17, 2011

First code was on an Oncology unit....Stage IV Lung CA pt newly diagnosed. Family came to nurses station and said he was "spitting up blood". I go into the room and he is gushing blood from his mouth and nose and totally aware of what was going on. He mouthed the words "Help me" and quickly turned purple starting at his chest and working upwards (very weird for a new grad). Come to find out the CA had eaten away at his aorta, which in turned ruptured. Big bloody mess which I still vividly remember 14 years later.

AusRN · Oct 17, 2011

Wow... the ones where blood going everywhere sound horrible. My first code was a elderly lady post op who had massive pulmonary odema, and went straight into asystole. Had great staff on but for the life of me couldn't remember how the bag and mask got into my hand.

The most traumatic one was a twenty eight year old that went into massive pulmonary odema, wasn't even coughing and had frothy sputum coming out, the look in her eyes knew that she was really sick and I'll never forget that. Still in ICU with a tracheostomy, down in a major center. Scary as hell.

sissiesmama, ASN, RN · Oct 17, 2011

.....My contribution to the code was to throw the furniture into the hallway so the code team could get the equipment into the room.

throwing furniture? - I'm calling security

The last code where I was trying to get furniture out of the way for the code team I almost took the ER doc's head with a chair. Glad he and my dh are buddies, and SO glad I didn't connect the chair to his head or we'd been in a lot of trouble!

Anne, RNC

Cat_RN, ASN, BSN, RN · Oct 17, 2011

My first code was an old lady who I had just spoken with 20 mins prior to the aide finding her and all had been kosher. Became unresponsive VS absent. Had to code her, I was new and the aide was new, thank god my supervisor had just came in to help us through it. Wasn't messy but I did crack ribs. She got an intraosseus line for the drugs and did regain a pulse and was in ICU a few days before calling it.

I had to do compressions for like, 20 minutes while they worked on her and OMG, I was SORE for days after. Got a major leg cramp too.

DixieRedHead, ASN, RN · Oct 18, 2011

No my first code, but my most memorable. I was called into the ED at 11A because the place was jammed up. I asked what I could do to help. Somebody told me the guy in room three might have a kidney stone and needed to get IV med. I told her I would start the IV while she got the med. I saw the guy crossing the hall to go to the bathroom, limping, holding his abdomen. When I saw him go back, I went in. He says, "I have got to have something for this pain." I said, "I am going to do something about that right now."

At which point he falls over dead.

I drag the stretcher to a trauma room. We get things started and the harder we pump the bluer his left leg turns. Blew a triple A.

MomRN0913 · Oct 18, 2011

First code was on an Oncology unit....Stage IV Lung CA pt newly diagnosed. Family came to nurses station and said he was "spitting up blood". I go into the room and he is gushing blood from his mouth and nose and totally aware of what was going on. He mouthed the words "Help me" and quickly turned purple starting at his chest and working upwards (very weird for a new grad). Come to find out the CA had eaten away at his aorta, which in turned ruptured. Big bloody mess which I still vividly remember 14 years later.

Sounds like the one I described. he also kept mouthing "help" until he went unresponsive.

Twinmom06, ASN, APN · Oct 18, 2011

my first code was my 3rd clinical week! It wasn't my pt, but my pt's roommate, who had 2 of my classmates taking care of her - no compressions as she never lost her pulse but they did have to intubate at the bedside before taking her to ICU...the hospital I'm doing clinicals at utilizes a rapid response team...in 2 minutes there were 11 nurses docs, an RT who was bagging and an echo tech, 3 nursing students and my patient SLEPT through it!!!