Pt dies on BSC today

Nurses General Nursing

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We were helping an old gentleman, DNR, to the BSC. He was an endstage CHF pt on BiPap. I helped get him on the BSC, where he had the last BM of his life, then proceeded to die. We got the easy lift to get him back in bed as he was dead weight at that point. This was all at shift change. God Bless him, he was a nice old guy, and it was his time to go.

Does anyone have any interesting death of pt stories?

Specializes in Case Management.
We were helping an old gentleman, DNR, to the BSC. He was an endstage CHF pt on BiPap. I helped get him on the BSC, where he had the last BM of his life, then proceeded to die. We got the easy lift to get him back in bed as he was dead weight at that point. This was all at shift change. God Bless him, he was a nice old guy, and it was his time to go.

Does anyone have any interesting death of pt stories?

I had the exact same thing happen to my pt. He was CHF/COPD combined. He had purple swollen legs that spouted water when sitting up. When laying down he sounded like he was gurgling underwater. So we kept his HOB all the way up and his legs elevated as high as possible as well while in bed. (kind of on the half-shell) I worked nights, he had to go, we put him on, he had a BM, and he ceased to breathe.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
we were helping an old gentleman, dnr, to the bsc. he was an endstage chf pt on bipap. i helped get him on the bsc, where he had the last bm of his life, then proceeded to die. we got the easy lift to get him back in bed as he was dead weight at that point. this was all at shift change. god bless him, he was a nice old guy, and it was his time to go.

does anyone have any interesting death of pt stories?

years ago, when i was working in ccu i helped a colleague get his patient up on the bedside commode to poop. i advised against it, but steve was adamant. the guy didn't want a bedpan, he wanted to go to the bathroom! steve was going to let him use the employee bathroom but i put my foot down (i was charge) at that.

the guy was sitting on the commode, steve was nowhere in sight, and i was watching from the hallway. suddenly, the patient stood up and started walking toward the window, poop plop-plop-plopping out his backside as he walked. he got to the window, and with his face pressed up against the glass, he continued to try to walk right through it. by now, i had reached the patient and was trying to talk to him-- but it was like i wasn't even there. and then he was asystolic. just. like. that.

ever tried to do cpr kneeling in $hit? the code was not successful. it was rather like the guy was going to the light . . . .

When I was new nurse I had an elderly DNR gentleman not doing very well. The doctor had ordered a foley cath since he had no urinary output...the problem was he had a penile implant that had a valve in his scrotum you had to push in order to pass the catheter through. Noone new or old had seen anything quite like this so there he was with three women holding and pumping on his member and scrotum. Suddenly, we look down and notice he isn't breathing, he has no heart beat or, pulse but he has a smile on his face.

Specializes in Critical Care, Home Health.

Had a pt that was near the end of his time. The family had called in the long lost son so everyone called say their final goodbye. After about an hour yelling from the room, everyone ran to the room to find the son unresponsive on the floor. Code was not successful, and the father passed 8 hours later. It was believed that the son had a massive brain aneurysm.

I had a patient pass Sunday after having a BM. The code was unsuccessful. It was horrible. Before she went to the bathroom she was telling us how she was having the best day she had had since she had been hospitalized. She had just fixed her hair and picked out her clothes for the day.

Specializes in ICU-Stepdown.
my first code...Code on the Commode....didnt make it....broke his ribs

Wow, thats wierd. My first code as a paramedic (ugh, way back when) was a commode-code too. We got to the condo -the wife had called because hubby had made a noise in the john, and (she thought) passed out against the door (which opened inward to the commode) and she couldn't get it open -he wouldn't respond, etc etc. We forced the door, the guy was slumped against it, party on the crapper. Quickly he was on the spineboard and on the stretcher (I was new, we ran one-medic/one EMT ambulances, and the fire truck (all emts) responded with life-threatening calls, so I had lots of hands, and only nervous inexperienced me to ask questions or be prompted to do the next thing) -on the third shock (he presented as semi-coorifice v-fib) I had been so excited/nervous, that I had used too much conductive gel, and it was kind of smeared on his chest, on the stretcher and even a little on the elbow (mine) that was touching the IV pole of the stretcher when I looked both at the head, and then feet, saying "clear". That third 'pop' had me staring up at my EMT/partner (I was sitting on the floor -but don't recall sitting down) and he was looking into my face, he was ghost-white pale and kept asking "are you ok?" -I remember saying 'man, that HURT!', and told him to continue cpr, and we went to the hospital where I slowly regained feeling in the left arm, and tried to get over the embarrassment of 'defibrillating' myself.

The patient, of course, was history. Had extensive cardiac hx.

Specializes in ICU-Stepdown.
I had a patient pass Sunday after having a BM. The code was unsuccessful. It was horrible. Before she went to the bathroom she was telling us how she was having the best day she had had since she had been hospitalized. She had just fixed her hair and picked out her clothes for the day.

Honestly, I wouldn't say that was horrible at all -for her. She sounds like she was really upbeat and did not suffer, and really, she didn't die alone (for me, this is a big thing. I always do my best to be there or have a tech be there when they die -nobody should die alone). We should ALL be so lucky :) She sounds like she was a peach of a patient :)

Yep, had many patients die of the valsalva on the BSC . . . .

steph

Burn Out -- poor ole fella-- but what a story, that was halarious!!!!

Specializes in ICU-Stepdown.

Ahh the portacrapper. Is there ANYTHING it CAN'T do? :D

Specializes in Gerontology.

I know of a nurse who had a patient die in the bathtub. She finished the bath before realizing the pt was dead. (pt was a DNR). She had to wheel the patient back to the room on the shower chair. Holding the pts head up straight so that none of the other pts waiting for their bath would know that someone died in the tub. The image of her wheeling the pt while trying to keep the head up straight cracks me up every time. (I know, I'm going straight to hell for that. :rotfl:

Specializes in Neuro ICU, Neuro/Trauma stepdown.

Might as well finish the bath....counts as post mortem care, right?

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