Has anyone else "sensed" when something was wrong with a patient?

[Norepinephrine]

I just want to see if anyone's had a similar experience. For background, I used to be Catholic, then agnostic, now I'm a there's-something-for-sure-but-I-have-no-idea-what-ist.

Sorry if this is sloppily written-I accidentally exposed my thyroid meds to excessive heat last week (they were in my purse when I was out in 90 degree heat all day) and ruined them like an idiot. I pick up a replacement script today, but I am not on my A-game at the moment. I'm also working in a clerical role right now, so no patient care will be compromised because I (temporarily) am!

I'm still a in nursing school, but I'm working in a supportive role at a large city hospital. There's a patient at work who I'm actually getting quite close with, which happens periodically with me. I know getting overly emotionally invested is a great way to burn out, but I'm willing to deal with it because I think it's helping me to stay motivated overall. I'm going to refer to the patient as Patient (I'm so creative!), use they/them pronouns, and not mention what their exact medical issues are to make this as HIPAA-friendly as possible.

I couldn't stop thinking about this patient all week. That's unusual. I've had cases of patients who I got very close to where I thought of them for a day or two after work, but never for a week.

I had various moments throughout the week where I just suddenly thought there's something wrong with Patient”. I sometimes woke up in the night thinking the same thing.

I came into work today (clerical role) and found out that the patient had several negative events this week. All of those events matched up perfectly with when I thought about the patient. I swear I'm telling the truth.

For example, they had something major happen at, according to the covering clinician, around 1:30am on Thursday morning. I woke up at exactly 1:26am Thursday morning with such a strong feeling of dread and there's something wrong with Patient” that I was genuinely concerned that they had coded or even passed away. That's just one example.

I don't think this is a coincidence. But I'm weirded out. I'm normally a very concrete, lineal person. One of my parents is an engineer and I definitely inherited their thinking style! Also, I am not prone to panic attacks or anxiety, and I haven't had a problem with waking up in the night since my junior year of high school. I'm also a skeptic. So this is very, very unusual for me.

I'm open to considering all ideas, and I respect all world religions (if someone asks me to pray for them, I will for example, even if I am not of faith). I just want to know if anyone has had an experience like this one. I don't want to talk about it in real life because I know people will think I'm a few bagels short of a breakfast at best and a complete liar at worst.

[JuliaRNMSN]

A nurse theorist a U of Colorado Denver speaks to this. When her name comes to me I'll post it. In nursing I've used it but not when charting. I use to guide my problem solving and support it with facts if possible. If I can't get facts to support my intuition, I don't rely on it in the workplace. I hope that makes sense. I'm sure you are not an idiot!!

[JuliaRNMSN]

Jean Watson University of Colorado Boulder is the nurse theorist I said I'd get back on.

Hope you can gather some info from her work!

She is amazing!

[Desert Lady]

When I was a student nurse way back in 1974, I was taking care of a cantakerous old guy. He refused to eat the "slop" the hospital was giving him. The nurse stated he had better eat or "I eill put a feeding tube in you". She left and I stayed to support him. He said "nobody is goingto put a feeding tube in me. The next morning I walked into his room and mentally saw him in a casket. Being young I was pretty freaked out. I didn't tell anyone but my sister. That was Friday. We as student nurses had the weekends off. So when I came back to the hospital on Monday I went straight to his room. He was gone. Dread came over me but I was still optimistic. I asked at the nurses station, "What happen to so and so" "oh, he had tap water enemas on Saturday until clear his heart gave out and he died." Now that I look back on that I say his potassium was too low and the enemas was too much for his electolytes to handle. But my point is We are tuned into the Spiritual part of people when we work that closely with them. Some are a little more tuned in than others. Listen closely when this happens this person needs extra attention and possibly a prayer. Rest in peace so and so. I think about you quite often.

[Chaya, ASN, RN]

The last place I worked on an acute MS/ Tele floor and that "nursing instinct early warning" feeling was well respected. There was an on-call Critical Care Rapid Response team dedicated to early recognition of impending deterioration in patient's conditions and timely intervention to prevent them from becoming critical. Among the specific criteria for mobilizing RR to assess a "floor" patient was: "just doesn't look right to nurse". Many lives were saved specifically because of this.

[CVT-ENT]

:)

[pachitalpn]

I "sensed" one day that my patient was not right even with ok vitals..doc response? :"you are high as a kite, he is fine" laughed & left..Same night my pat. spiked a fever & had sob, wheezing etc.Doc was called in the middle of the night...dx: full blown pneumonia...2 IV abt & albuterol q hour..Just follow your instincts always!!!

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

BUT - I also think that a lot of what we may call 'intuition' at work is actually the result of highly developed clinical expertise that is 'clicking' to pick up cues that we may not even be consciously aware of. Just because we can't articulate the exact train of thought does not mean it wasn't a cognitive process. Basically, if you've seen it a jillion times, you just KNOW when something is amiss, and your "nurse antennae" can be triggered by something as slight as a brief glance at a monitor as you're walking by.

I agree. I also think that when you are really in the habit of thinking critically about potential risks/consequences of certain illnesses and are working to prevent/head them off (rather than always reacting to a crisis), you will catch a lot of the really early signs of an impending problem.