ICU Nurses Dealing with COVID Patients

[MareBear112]

Hi forum. This question is for nurses that deal a lot with COVID patients so I'm thinking  ICU nurses. Have you experienced vaccinated patients dying due to COVID complications???

This seems an odd question given that the vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths from covid occur in unvaccinated people.

[amoLucia]

School question?

1 hour ago, amoLucia said:

School question?

I hadn't considered that possibility...

[John2018]

I'm not an ICU nurse but I have a close friend that works in Cardiac ICU and yes,  they do have patients who are completely vaccinated die due to complications from COVID but their numbers are way smaller compared to those who are not vaccinated. 

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

In my ICU, the patients that were vaccinated and ended up in ICU and/or dying mostly had other major comorbidities. Especially those with cancer diagnoses and severely compromised immune systems. I can only think of 1 or 2 fully vaccinated patients that died that did not also have cancer. 

[PMFB-RN, RN]

In my unit we had two fully vaccinated people die of COVID. One had advanced leukemia and a trashed immune system. The other was a healthy young (31) man who came in to our ED with SOB and was dead less than four days later. Had our docs stumped and nothing we did seemed to matter.

    I'm not sure how many unvaccinated people died of COVID in our unit, over 50 though. 

[MunoRN, RN]

We've had people who died of Covid who were fully vaccinated, although none where it was surprising that vaccine didn't offer them protection.

The vaccines rely on a competent immune system to establish immunity.  Patients who are immunocompromised or immunosuppressed are unlikely to develop immunity to Covid vaccines, or really any vaccines for that matter, and depend on those around them to reduce their risk of infection.

We had one patient who was immunosuppressed due to cancer treatment.  Despite being vaccinated he ended up in the Covid-ICU.  When it was clear he was about to pass we told the wife she could come be with him.  She refused to wear a mask coming into the hospital, was adamant that there was no need for her to wear one because she had already had Covid, a week or two before her husband got sick with Covid.  When asked if she had been vaccinated or taking precautions due to the fact that she lived with a high-risk person she replied "why the "F" should I be a sheep, I'm not the one with cancer".  She was a real peach (and probably killed her husband through reckless endangerment).  

Meshing the critical care environment with families and general public has always been challenging, but it's been a whole different deal since Covid started.

[CommunityRNBSN, BSN, RN]

Is this for an assignment?  If so, you'll need to give extra info so we know what types of stories you're looking to write up.

If you're just looking for stats-- yes, unfortunately, people who have been vaccinated are not 100% protected, and your state health department has likely published statistics on how many vaccinated, partially vaccinated, and unvaccinated people have died.  You can find it with a Google search. My state publishes it on their DPH website.

[MaxAttack, BSN, RN]

Yes. Notable contributing factors in the last few were that two were transplant recipients, one was > 80, and one was in her 20-30's and pregnant. Vaccine isn't a guarantee, unfortunately. 

[NO JOKES OR PUNS ALLOWED, BSN, RN]

On 3/11/2022 at 1:22 AM, MareBear112 said:

Hi forum. This question is for nurses that deal a lot with COVID patients so I'm thinking  ICU nurses. Have you experienced vaccinated patients dying due to COVID complications???

Why hello, high school student who is proficient in Googling enough to find this forum.

You're thinking correctly. ICU nurses like myself have seen a lot of covid patients. Yes, I've seen a patient pass from what was probably issues with the vaccine. The patient developed a series of blood clots, likely to be one of the rare side effects of the Moderna vaxx.  Antibiotics kill far more people, and your invention of those changed the course of modern medicine. 

 

 

[HiddenAngels]

ngl. the answer to your question is yes they do unfortunately.