Just some background, I'm a new nurse, been on my own for about 1.5 months on a Med/Surg Tele Unit. I've been floated to the Covid unit several times, and this particular night one pt I had was there more for renal failure than covid but was positive. He's on RA when I arrive, satting in low-mid 90's. I bump him up at bedtime to 2L because he's desatting a little during sleep (like 88-90) but comes back up to baseline.
3am he calls out saying his sugar's low - 54 - so I go to give him a snack and juice because he's A&O and on a regular diet (no thickened liquids, etc.). First sip of juice he takes he starts coughing, continues for like 15 mins, bumped him up to 4L because he desatted a little but comes back up with the 4l.
I feel terrible after this thinking, "great, I gave this poor guy aspiration pneumonia".
After I let the doc know, he's made NPO, swallow eval, cxr, all that. I go to hang some fluids on him around 0630 and he's satting in the mid 90's again, no more cough, says he's fine.
I was off for 4 days and when I come back in see he's in the ICU now, he was transferred the morning I left because he was in resp distress. Then when I went to work last night after 2 more days found out he had died. I feel like it's all my fault he died, like I should've done more, and I set off this chain reaction all because I gave him a sip of juice.
We're not in the business of curing patients and saving lives. That's not what most nurses do. We manage symptoms and comfort, and nurse the patient. You did what nurses do, you responded to the symptoms and reacted help address them. Sometimes patients are going to die anyway. It's out of your hands, you're not the one treating the patient's disease. You're giving the meds, but the physician is orchestrating the treatment.
CharleeFoxtrot, BSN, RN
840 Posts
Can't add much more here, other than sending cyber hugs.