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?

We had a DNR patient expire on our shift. Earlier that day the MD had put in a GI consult to have someone look at her PEG tube. Well, between her dying and us putting the symbol we use to designate a deceased pt on her door the GI resident had slipped in. He looked at the PEG tube, came out to the desk, wrote a note, and on the way off the unit told her nurse, "I just saw Mrs. X, her tube looks fine." To which she replied, "Great, but she doen't need it anymore."

The Resident was of course mortified when he found out he'd examined a dead pt and didn't notice she wasn't "with us".

~jen

oh my, that's a real one track mind! :uhoh21:

Specializes in ICU, PACU.

Death by defecation, or death by elimination.

I tell my patients not to bear down, especially if they are cardiac patients.

Specializes in CCU,ICU,ER retired.

Many years ago when I was way younger I rode a Mobile CCU. We had a call to a very nice neighborhood. When we got there the firefighters,(first responce team

When we tried to put him on the guerney he had such rigor mortis that being in a sitting position he could not lay flat! we had to put him in an upright position and put a sheet over him.

His poor little wife thought we had saved him since he was sitting upright We had to tell her that he was deceased and had to stay with her until one of their children could get there.

I don't think I will ever forget that run.

Specializes in adult care.

Forgive me, but what is LTC? I was clear on the BSC, just not the LTC.

I would like to be able to advise stool softeners and be knowlegable about what may happen to these people if they strain during a BM.

When I was 18, I did home care for an old man out in the country. He was 97 years old and we had many nice times, got stuck in the mud trying to get his power chair out of the yard because i was jumping on his trampoline. We used to take it out in the field and I would lie in the grass and we would talk and look at the flowers his wife planted while she was alive. He was a nice old man and always wanted me to bring my children to his house even thought it was against the rules.

I came in one morning to dress him and when i went to shake his arm, it was unbendable, the sheet had been over his face when i first checked in on him, but the ceiling fan was on and the sheet was rising and falling on his chest, so I thought he just wanted to sleep in.

However, he was cold and rigor had set in hours ago. I could not speak and was in a state of shock, luckily, his son in law was home and I bursted into his room still unable to speak. I was hysterical and found myself standing against the wall waiting for the ambulance to come, thinking, i would never make it as a nurse and I couldn't believe I was acting so weak. i guess I thought I should have been prepared and follow procedure, but you never really are. After that episode, it hasn't phased me much, i clean them up, tag them and bag them.

I think the first one always hits hard and is traumatic. after that, it is a little easier to deal with.

I am sorry for the loss- hope you feel better soon, it is always good to talk about it, no matter how many times you have seen it.

Specializes in Education, Administration, Magnet.
Forgive me, but what is LTC? I was clear on the BSC, just not the LTC.

Long Term Care

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
we had a dnr patient expire on our shift. earlier that day the md had put in a gi consult to have someone look at her peg tube. well, between her dying and us putting the symbol we use to designate a deceased pt on her door the gi resident had slipped in. he looked at the peg tube, came out to the desk, wrote a note, and on the way off the unit told her nurse, "i just saw mrs. x, her tube looks fine." to which she replied, "great, but she doen't need it anymore."

the resident was of course mortified when he found out he'd examined a dead pt and didn't notice she wasn't "with us".

~jen

i once woke a resident up at 0200 to draw blood gases on a dead patient. (hey, he was a jerk and he had to get up to pronounce her anyway!) he tried for half an hour before storming out of the room, snarling that he couldn't get the blood gases, so "i guess you can d/c the q 1 hour blood gases, just like you wanted." (dnr patient.)

"fine," i said, trying rather unsuccessfully to keep from laughing. "now did you want to go back in and pronounce her?"

he didn't even have the grace to be mortified.

Specializes in Critical Care.
I just finished taking vital signs of a lady that was admitted to the hospital for a minor surgery. The vitals were ok, she was in her 40s. 5 minutes later the nurse is calling a code to her room. She did not make it. And the sad thing was, that her son was with her 24/7 and he just left the room to get himself something to eat. That's when she died. While I was preping her body, he called the room phone. The nurses were trying to get hold of him before, but were unable to do so. So the primary nurse told him to get to the hospital asap. It was just a sad day, because that patient was a very nice lady with a pleasant family. The family did not have the money for the autopsy, so to this day we don't know what caused her death.

I would think that a reasonably healthy woman in her 40's that was having only MINOR surgery would have been a coroner's case and the autopsy wouldn't have to be paid for by the family. At least that's how it would go here in Wisconsin.

tvccrn

Specializes in Lie detection.
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:

and i had a cna bathing a pt. and then ask me for help with a turn. she had already done the majority of the bath and been with the pt. for at least 10-15 minutes.

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[color=#483d8b]i got to the entryway of the room and knew right away the pt. was dead. i could see the color gray from there! i told her not to finish the bath:uhoh3: .

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Specializes in Public Health, DEI.

This wasn't my patient, but the father of my son's classmate. The letter that the principal sent home (I assume with the family's permission) explained it thusly: He was dxed with leukemia on Saturday, hospitalized on Sunday, went into a coma on Tuesday (I assume it was induced, but that's just speculation) and died on Friday. Not at all the course one typically sees with this dx.

Specializes in Rehab, Med Surg, Home Care.
Back in the day when I was a CNA in a small hospital, an ICU nurse was teaching me about the Cheyne-Stokes respirations and the need to count respirations for a full minute, not 15 seconds and multiply by 4. She had me go and do 2 sets of vitals on her pt and count respirations for a minute, and then do it for 15 seconds and multiply by 4 so I could compare the difference.

I went to the bed side and the pt was in the shallow breathing part of the cycle. It was difficult to see the respirations, so I thought I would put my hand on their chest to feel the movement. As soon as my left hand made contact with this person's chest, they went asystole (and I came close to soiling myself). I could not get far enough away from my left hand at that point.

For the next 2 weeks, if I picked up the phone in the nurse's station with my left hand, it would go dead. If I flipped on light switches with my left hand, light bulbs would blow. I made the mistake of touching the telemetry monitor and the screen went dark. My co-workers teased me for months about my "hand o' death."

Life went on and I would (and still do) go through spells where electrical things got goofy and light bulbs would go POP! if I flipped a switch with my left hand. It would make me wonder, but not to the point of distraction

Fast forward 7 years. I had moved to Indiana. I was in church one Saturday evening with my husband. It was packed. We were all kneeling and praying. I was in the middle of the pew. Someone slid in from the isle on the left hand side. Everyone moved down. The lady next to me moved over, made contact with my left arm AND DROPPED DEAD! I kid you not! She was suddenly pulseless and not breathing. I haven't been back to church since. And, when I have an unstable patient in the ICU, I pray for what ever is up with my left hand/arm to be inactivated for my shift.

Well, ya know, as a leftie I have alway resented that the latin name for left is SINISTER!!

Specializes in Rehab, Med Surg, Home Care.
i once woke a resident up at 0200 to draw blood gases on a dead patient. (hey, he was a jerk and he had to get up to pronounce her anyway!) he tried for half an hour before storming out of the room, snarling that he couldn't get the blood gases, so "i guess you can d/c the q 1 hour blood gases, just like you wanted." (dnr patient.)

"fine," i said, trying rather unsuccessfully to keep from laughing. "now did you want to go back in and pronounce her?"

he didn't even have the grace to be mortified.

ruby, that was evil!! :lol2: :lol2: :lol2:

I was feeding my pt and all of a suddrn he got a nose bleed. I cleaned his nose and askedhim to head toward hie bedroom and that I would be right behind him. Well, he did not make it out of thr dining room! He died before we got there. Something to do with ICP. The onset is very rapid and I not being a nurse a the time did not know the s/s of this disorder It is important that you pay attention to S/S to avoid any kind of hurt on behalf of all involved!

By the way a BSC you learn in any CNA class is by far a BEDSIDE COMMODE !

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