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Discussion

L& D----3 codes in 1 month!

In the past month my labor and delivery floor has had 3 codes on moms! All post NSVD or post c/s. I think all patients ended up in the ICU after. So scary! I feel totally useless in a code. Luckily some nurses I work with used to work in ICUs and actually enjoy that sort of thing and handle it well. But we really should all get ACLS certified and do mock codes so we all know what we're doing. They always say these things come in 3s and it's totally true! We just had 2 codes, 2 days in a row on 2 different patients! Starting to feel more like an ICU than L&D! It's also been a bad month for us for babies. Lots of codes on babies, a full-term IUFD from an abruption. Scary stuff.... I'm ready for this month to be over.....

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    That sounds real rough. I feel your pain. One time on tele, I had a rapid response team called on one of my patients every day that I worked...not a good week. I would think that ACLS would be required on l&d..and mock codes help.

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    It seems to go in spurts like that, sometimes. We've had a recent run of bad too, and I hope it gets better for all of us very soon. Hang in there.

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    Hi, horrible situations. I feel for you.

    ACLS is great, I would never tell a nurse to not get it. I have been ACLS certified for more years than I care to remember. Every two years I get renewed, take the whole class, not the one day testing. Yet two weeks after the class I would feel just a little above useless in a code. Codes are scary for many health care workers unless you frequently respond to them. Fortunately I haven't been to one in over 11 years!!!!

    ACLS is bad at saving lives, very poor outcomes for patients who have reached the point where they need ACLS. All the defibrillation and drugs in the world do not work if VERY GOOD QUALITY BLS is not provided.

    I really wonder, would suggest, if you don't already know, looking at the hours prior to the codes. What signs and symptoms were overlooked. I can't believe these moms suddenly went into V-Tach which is the focus of ACLS?

    Mock drills are a great idea, where is the crash cart, what can a nurse who is not ACLS certified do to help out, etc. But being ACLS certified for a L&D nurse??? Your energy might be better spent in studying what caused these moms to reach that point. And reviewing BLS, then you will hopefully never have to call a code!!!!

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    I tdoes seem to run in spurts.........how hard for you and your co-workers. I have always encouraged mock drills I think they do help. But I have to tell you when I was sup.......the words I hated most were code pink L/D and code blue L/D because when things go bad there they go REALLY BAD REALLY QUICKLY!!!!

    Huugs..this too will pass....xo

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    I'm sorry you are having a rough month! The hospital were I work, we are required to be ACLS certified and have mock codes/drills every 3 months. We have an edu dept that has a pregnant similator dummy that we practice CPR, shoulder distocia, deliveries, etc on... Really though, unless you do codes all the time having ACLS is kind of pointless. I hope everything gets better!

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    your remark about "some nurses love it" made me wonder if the same nurse was working each shift this occurred. I hope someone is doing a root cause analysis to see if there are any common factors between events such s meds, pharmacist and nurse on duty, etc.

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    Codes are scary to most of us. Whatever floor we work on. I think L&D would be the worst. I'm sorry you're having such a bad month.

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    Very interesting that I should come across this thread. i worked in L&D for 23+ years and never had to respond to a code, although there were a few that others told me about. I have been out of hospital nursing for a few years, and have been trying to get back into L&D. All of the hospitals that I have applied to require L&D nurses to be ACLS certified. I have since obtained mine, but i agree with some of the other posts, that if you don't frequently have codes, ACLS doesn't do you much good. I hope there are no more frequent codes for you. You have had enough. Hope things get better. :eek:

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