I got scared in an emergency.

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Tonight someone needed my help. I find a man doing CPR on a woman. He says she has a pulse. The woman in unconscious and what I am assuming kussmals respirations. The daughter is crying for her mother. I saw that the woman was not cyanotic and I felt her skin was warm and dry. BUT I started shaking and I feel like I just lost everything I knew. I was so scared. I watched for about a minute and administered breaths and then the ambulance arrived. The woman is ok now. I do not know what the definitive dx was but I am assuming DKA. Her blood sugar (I found this out after the fact) was at 60 initially. Daughter came home found mother slumped over in chair struggling for breath. They laid her down man began CPR and checked blood sugar it was 370.

So I am in my fourth semester in nursing school but this truly was my first emergency experience. I am ashamed of how scared I was. I feel like I did not do the things I was supposed to do.

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

Don't be ashamed! Nursing school does not mean you automatically just know what to do, even when you know​ what to do. It's human nature to freeze up like that. It takes experience that you do not yet possess to keep your cool, but even in the ER, with experienced staff, adrenaline runs high during a code or other emergent situation. If you were in an ER, you would have someone giving you direction during a code.

Don't be so hard on yourself. :)

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

Don't be too hard on yourself. You did just fine. Nursing School doesn't train you for this kind of thing. You likely had zero training or education in how to truly deal with prehospital emergencies effectively. Paramedics do have that training and they do get "live" mentored experience in dealing with emergencies. Some of them even freeze at first even after that training!

It happens. I'm not saying that nurses can't function effectively in emergent situations, I'm saying that they're not provided that training during school and because of that, while you can assess the patient's condition, you aren't prepared to take action under those situations. It's not your fault and you didn't do anything wrong. I think you did just fine and you learned something about yourself.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Postpartum.

You actually should be proud of yourself for not hiding. You did the best you could by staying with the women when help arrived.

I can tell you stories as someone who works in a hospital and have been in real codes and you look around and some of your fellow coworkers decide to go hide in their patient's room. Some nurses may not get the opportunity to utilize their BLS/ACLS. When I was 6 months on the floor as a new grad, I was sitting and chatting with my patient who suddenly slumped over. I immediately called her name and she didn't respond. I then pressed the code alarm and Rapid came. I started my first chest compressions on a real person. The initial cracking of her sternum sent shockwaves up my arms but I kept going. It felt like my entire unit came to help where needed. I certainly wasn't alone.

One big lesson I want to share, always stay with your patient during an emergency. Or unless instructed by your charge nurse or Rapid team. Remember outside of the hospital setting, always call for help.

Sent from iPink's phone via allnurses app

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Specializes in ICU/ER, Maternal, Psych.

Don be hard on yourself. My first emergency situation was when i was working as a CNA in a hospital. I felt like i had tunnel vision while everyone around me was hustling. The first time is always scary. when you are working as a nurse and these thing happen often, you will react confidently.

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Please don't beat yourself up about it. I think it's awesome that you were there helping out...give yourself some credit. Not all of us have that "fight" response when it comes to emergency situations (I certainly don't). And like you said, you are still a student. This might be one of those things that comes with experience...and you will get there. Great job helping out with that lady!

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

If the woman had a pulse, why would he be doing CPR?

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Specializes in Emergency Department.
If the woman had a pulse, why would he be doing CPR?

Probably because current CPR training emphasizes compressions and IIRC, doesn't have lay persons do pulse checks any more. With a blood sugar level of either 60 or 370, I wouldn't suspect DKA. Something else is likely the problem, assuming both blood sugar checks were done correctly. When dealing with altered level of consciousness (ALOC) issues, use the mnemonic of AEIOU TIPS as those things cover most of the reasons why a person would have a decreased level of consciousness.

  • A — Alcohol/Acidosis
  • E — Endocrine/Epilepsy/Electrolytes/Encephalopathy
  • I — Infection
  • O — Opiates, Overdose
  • U — Uremia
  • T — Trauma
  • I — Insulin
  • P — Poisoning/Psychosis
  • S —Stroke

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