First code

Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN · May 3, 2012

You did good. Have your feelings. It's okay.

katsanchezRN · May 3, 2012

Thank you.

nurse2033, MSN, RN · May 3, 2012

Thank you for starting CPR, I've been a medic for a long time and a lot of times staff do not start CPR. Good job!

katsanchezRN · May 3, 2012

Wow! Really? There would have been no hope if we hadn't! If they are a full code and have no pulse I assumed every nurse would start CPR. I was taught to anyways. She would have been down for over 4 minutes if we hadn't....

LindseyRN86 · May 3, 2012

Great job. Take a deep breath and know you did everything possible to help this person. :hug:

nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN · May 3, 2012

If she went from pulseless and dead to SROC (spontaneous return of circulation) on just CPR with no epi, no meds, you did a GREAT job! You bought her a chance if what was going on was survivable. In this particular case, it wasn't. Thanks so much for buying her that chance. Of course you feel ribs and cartilage popping, that means you were pushing hard enough to do some good, people only have rubber ribs on the TV (grin).

Just remember, you had a successful first code. I was a nurse over over a year, don't know how many codes, before I ever got someone back -- he didn't make it out of ICU, but we bought time for the family to say goodbye. So did you. Great job!

katsanchezRN · May 3, 2012

Thank you all for you kind words!

IEDave, ASN, CNA, LVN · May 3, 2012

And another "well done" from a fellow LTCer! :bow: :hug:

In my case, I had my first resident pass on about a week and a half ago - we didn't resuscitate because we didn't discover the pt. had passed until the LVN did a routine check. No drama, no noise (I wasn't more than 75 ft. from that pt. during that time) - it was just time for the pt. to go. Felt somewhat somber & eerie that the Old One could sneak in like that, but seeing the reaction of the other CNA's on the floor helped put it into perspective.

For you - you gave your pt. some time she wouldn't have otherwise had, and gave her family the time to be with her that they almost certainly needed. I've little doubt that they appreciated & will continue to appreciate the fact that they had that small amount of extra time to begin to achieve some closure, and to say what needed to be said.

You done good. :redbeathe

----- Dave

GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN · May 3, 2012

the feelings you're describing are human feelings. moreover, on my first code blue after receiving my license, it was to say the most traumatic experience for me at the time which haunted me for several weeks. the code was called for a young man in his 20's which had a history of heart disease,looking back on it i felt a feeling of guilt primarily at not being able to do more. however, in your case you should be proud that you did everything on your power to assist your pt. although, it was her time to depart from this earth. wishing you the very best always...aloha~

brainkandy87 · May 3, 2012

Yep, great job on immediately initiating CPR. It's always a grim situation when they've coded, but you gave her a good fighting chance. So many nurses don't realize how much of a difference there is between starting CPR immediately and five minutes after the patient codes.

allnurses Guide · May 3, 2012

By administering CPR you gave the family a gift and a very important one. You gave them control in a helpless situation, the opportunity to say goodbye in a way that was meaningful to them and a chance to do one last loving thing for their family member - to let them go. You didn't do CPR in vain, only to have the patient die later. You did CPR and then gave control of the situation to those who loved that patient most. That is the very definition of heroic in my book.