Have you ever performed CPR? Results?:

Nurses Safety

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I don't know how to insert a poll tool, but here's my story. LTC, shift change, I went looking for the day nurse. She said "I'm in here!", so I entered the room. As soon as she pulled back the curtain (she had started and was doing CPR on a patient), she 'pushed' me towards the dead patient, and said "I have to go to the bathroom- and this lady needs CPR!". So, I started CPR myself, and had a CNA call 911. But the lady had been dead so long she was cold- I didn't have any time to evaluate what was going on. Yes, she died. Only time I've done CPR.

My brother was an RN, in Philly. Walking home, he came upon a man that had been shot, and the police were present. He noticed the man was not being attended to, so he ran under the yellow crime scene tape, determined that the fallen man was alive and bleeding out and needed CPR, and started CPR. The police told him to get back out of the scene, he told them "I'm a nurse- he needs CPR!". My brother was arrested for 'disorderly conduct' and 'disobeying the orders of a peace officer', and the man bled to death. The charges were dismissed, but my brother never got over that experience.

I'm just under the 1 year mark since I started working. I've not had a chance to do compressions myself, but have been otherwise involved in 2 code situations at work, one of them being my patient who I had just rushed up to ICU cause he was going downhill fast from the moment I got him. STEMI, diabetic, renal, severe PVD, R AKA and gangrenous L foot; hadn't been keeping up his sugars all day apparently, and SBP in the 80s for the most part, according to the report I got at 19:30. By 20:10 I had called our rapid response team on this guy. ICU was full so we had to wait til 22:55 to transfer him after they cleared out a bed (to me, incidentally) with this guy circling the drain the whole time. Portable tele battery died in the elevator on the run up to ICU, tho he was still speaking to us on the way. Ran the whole way and when we plugged him back in, boom! VFib. Unsuccessful code that time.

I have, however, looked after 2 pts who were successful codes in the past few months. Both made it out of ICU and seemed to be back at baseline for the most part, aside from the broken ribs.

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Specializes in FNP, ONP.
Who are you ,or any police officer, to decide someone isn't worth trying to save? Get off your know-it-all high horse and try and remember why most people become nurses- to care for others. Her brother was selfless and I applaud him for that.

Chill. I do not know how it is you infer that I believed the individual was not "worth trying to save." I never said or implied such. What an odd thing to assume from my comments. Not referring to the scenario in the OP specifically, but generally speaking it simply isn't appropriate to enter an unsecured crime scene against instructions of law enforcement charged with that responsibility. Failing to follow the direction of law enforcement officers in dangerous unsecured situations puts lives at risk: those of the officers as well as any other bystanders, etc. and that is inherently unfair to each of those individuals. There is no judgement of the relative "worth" of any of those persons involved. It is simply a public safety issue. In a crisis where one does not possess all of the facts of a given situation, one follows instructions of the police, period. I am not mounted on a high horse, I'm down here on my own two feet using plain, old fashioned, level headed common sense. Stand down the emotional grandstanding and think logically for a minute and you'll have to concede that I'm right.

Why anyone becomes a nurse is immaterial to how to go about performing one's work related duties in a responsible manner. And I would submit that the first step in "caring for others" is to try one's level best not to get innocent people hurt or killed unnecessarily, lol.

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Aside from the intermittent hostile comments, really- I'm amazed at the total responses to this post. I will again clarify: My brother, a BSN, long time ICU nurse, did 'not' take in the situation, and make an informed decision to violate a crime scene. He was walking home from work (in Philly-for those of you that have no idea of the risk that entails) at night, turned a corner, saw a man 'down', and rushed to aid the man, having no idea what had happened. It was instinct, fact, not criminal. For those of you who have condemned him again, all I can say it that- what's new? Nurses attack their own. For what reason, who cares, we all know nurses seem to just hate each other. Again- the point of my post was, does CPR work? Hmm. Seems not to in most cases. And don't try it on me!

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Closed for Admin Review.

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