I feel really awful

[alli]

Last evening I was taking care of a lady with an extensive past medical history. For most of the evening she was complaining of feeling weak, since she is older and just had surgery I figured it had taken a toll on her. The whole shift her oxygen level was low so I got an order to put a mask and the level incresed. She had one episode of acting very strange. The other nurse and I decided to do an ECG then we called the doctor. They didn't seem very concerned and had the medical student examine the patient. He didn't think anything was wrong, he consulted with the resident and they told me just to monitor the oxygen level overnight. The other nurse and I found this strange but the patient was feeling much better and the oxygen level had gone up so I didn't persist that something more be done. Well today I found out that the patient coded during the night and is now on the cardiac unit. I feel really awful, that I should have been more persistant. I had a gut feeling but for some reason I ignored it. Unfortunately my gut feeling was pretty much on target. This is the last time I take a gut feeling for granted.

[alli]

Hey everyone, thanks so much for being so supportive I really needed it.

To reply to Daytonite's questions, the nursing supervisor wanted to make sure the patient's oxygen level had incresed before change of shift and it had.

I would also like to know what the med student told the resident he didn't call her he went off the unit and spoke to her there because she wasn't answering the pager. The nurse that had been helping me was going to call the number where the resident usually is but the med student said no I'll go find her. So I can only imagine what he told her. Initially he had ordered a blood gas and CBC but after consulting with her he said to forget it. Anyways next time I will call back the resident myself and tell them something needs to be done.

Live and Learn, with some smiles and tears along the way.