Increasing number of deaths

[bellehill, RN]

Has anyone else noticed an increase in the number of patients who are dying in the last couple weeks? We have had so many ICH come in the last week and they last just long enough for the family to say good bye. It is depressing. How do you deal with this much death?

[gwenith, BSN, RN]

It is always hard especially at this time of year. Sometimes it helps to write out about those that really get to you. Change times dates and facts so that you are not in a HIPPA violation and can maintain privacy - it may help.

[NeuroICURN]

I've noticed it comes in spurts too. Seems like you won't have hardly any for a while and then next thing you know, there's a ton dying all at once!

Personally, I've just come to accept this as part of life in a Neuro ICU....goodness knows our patients tend to be a different kind of sick....and generally, just a lot sicker, with poorer outcomes than most. It's just the nature of the beast I guess! I don't let it get to me...once I leave work, I'm done with it and rarely think about the patients later.

Like Gwenith suggested, talking or writing about it may help. If nothing else, we're always here to listen! :)

Hope things get better for you soon!

[Tony35NYC]

I'm glad someone else started this thread because I was thinking that maybe the ICU where I work was just having an unusually bad past coupla weeks with the high number of deaths. There have been a lot of deaths over the holidays right up until yesterday, and from the looks of things we're gonna see a few more soon, too. Three of my former pts who had kinda stabilized and transferred to step-down were sent back to the ICU a few days later and in pretty bad shape, too. Two of them coded and died, and I doubt the third one is going to make it.

You can't be a Jean Watson type of nurse to work around here because things happen way too fast, and if you get too emotionally attached to your patients you'd probably be depressed all the time.