Do We "Really" Save Lives....?

l.rae · Jul 28, 2002

wow, what a deep philosophical question.....l do believe God ultamiatly holds the power of life and death, but l also believe life is eternal and we humans do have some free will and say so how we spend it, to end it early, to abuse it ...ect. However even the ''talents'' we posess to influence these factors are God given IMHO....so in effect, you are right....sometimes we just go along for the ride....There is nothing wrong with celebrating when we have a victory like saving a life as long as we ultimatly give credit where credit is due.....All our gifts and talents are gifts of God...a fact some arrogant surgeons have yet to learn.......LR

live4today, RN · Jul 28, 2002

As health professionals, we offer what knowledge and expertise we have to the sick and dying.....and in my humble and professional opinion......it is God who heals through the health professionals, and God who calls away His own when their time comes to leave this place. :kiss

mattsmom81 · Jul 28, 2002

I believe God has the ultimate say... if he chooses to intervene. He has given us free will.. and often does NOT intervene. I don't believe he 'causes' everything to happen....but he is behind the good in us all, and has a hand in what we do.

I believe nurses have been given a gift to help and heal, and CAN save lives... through him.

I also believe medicine in many cases goes too far...and drags nurses along with it....'playing' God.

fedupnurse · Jul 28, 2002

I would say defibrillating someone in V fib and bringing them back is saving a life. I'd also say catching an error that could have resulted in a patients death is also saving a life. If you pushed someone out from in front of a moving car, you have saved their life. If you apply pressure to a bleeding arterial puncture site stopping the patient from exsanguinating, you have saved a life. Don't get me wrong, I do believe in God, but I believe we save lives every day.

mark_LD_RN · Jul 28, 2002

i feel we do save lives, but god has the ultimate say in it. we use our god given talents (if used correctly)to save lives

rachel h, BSN, RN · Jul 28, 2002

Interesting... I too have thought about this many times. And although I am not at all religious, I do believe that if a patient is critical, we are a tool in God's hands. We do not save a life- we do all we have the power to do as human beings and God-or fate- decides in the end. Just my opinion.

adrienurse, LPN · Jul 29, 2002

We save lives all the time. We do it so often it feels normal and nobody even thinks of chest thumping. It is not in dramatic ways like when paramedics and firefighters save lives, it is gradually done. How many times have you called in the doc because someone was crashing or going sour? There you go.

hapeewendy · Jul 29, 2002

we save lives that are meant to be saved......

if in all our life saving efforts a patient dies anyway then I do believe , not to sound cliche but that it "was their time to go"

no one person/being/group of individuals can be credited for saving lives....

its a group effort.

I cannot say that we as nurses do not save lives, because I have seen the lives of many people saved from the actions of nurses.

I think we as nurses have a very significant and important role in saving lives , but lets not forget we also ease the transition for many from this life to another..... that in itself is saving a life , a life that would have passed on alone and scared .......

its a tough deep philosophical topic..depending on what your own personal beliefs are, I get what you say about the high fiving thing - that does seem a bit over the top and made for tv sitcoms/dramas

but I dont see anything wrong with feeling in your heart that you have played some small role in helping to save another persons life.....

SmilingBluEyes · Jul 29, 2002

I see us as "facilitators"--- to the GOOD or BAD...it can go either way, depending on how we perceive the outcome..... but the ULTIMATE decision is NOT OURS. This, I strongly believe. WE are HUMAN, after all, and only facilitate prolonging or ending life. It's only the way I see it, anyhow, in my small corner of the world.

Nurse Ratched, RN · Jul 29, 2002

I am an atheist, so I don't necessarily believe in a conductor orchestrating whether we do or don't help someone stick around a little longer. I believe we work with our knowledge and limitations and sometimes despite our skills and the technology it is just someone's "time to go" because there is nothing left in them with which to fight. I like Blueyes' "facilitators" idea.

rebelwaclause, ASN, RN · Jul 29, 2002

Originally posted by mattsmom81
I also believe medicine in many cases goes too far...and drags nurses along with it....'playing' God.

That's interesting...I totally agree with you....