Mommies and daddys in the trauma room.

allnurses Guide · Oct 29, 2006

You know, it may sound really horrible, but as a parent I don't even know how I would react in a situation like that. I honestly don't know if I could stand to sit there and watch the team do CPR on my baby. I don't know if I could stand to sit there and watch her in that condition. Maybe that's selfish... maybe somehow she would do better with me by her side.

I don't know... I would also never forgive myself if she died and I wasn't there by her side holding her hand...

I don't know how I would react. I guess that isn't really what this thread is about.

I think if I worked in the ER, as heartbreaking as it would be for me to hear that poor mother sobbing and crying hysterically, I would definately be letting her stay in that room as long as she wasn't physically getting in the way and grabbing and such...

gonzo1, ASN, RN · Oct 29, 2006

Everything I've ever read on this subject verifies that family prescence is a good thing. One ER I worked at allowed this and there was never a problem. Sadly, where I work now family is not allowed in and I think this is very sad. I am working to change this to the best of my ability. When the pt is mine I allow parents to be near if they want.

I know from experience that being a nurse doesn't always help in a personal crisis. You can still feel very lost and helpless.

Trauma Columnist · Oct 29, 2006

Hey Gonzo - you might look to the ENA site for info on family presence. Also - Magnet hospitals are family friendly.

widi96 · Oct 29, 2006

Our hospital doesn't have a policy, but seems to follow the basic guidelines previously mentioned. We had a gentleman pass away a couple of weeks ago and we all knew it wasn't going to end well, and because the wife had been so composed to that point, she was able to come in to the trauma room while we performed CPR and the physician requested CPR continued until she could sit next to him and hold his hand while he passed. This was one of the 'better' cases. We have also had cases where family had to be escorted out by police and most weren't even allowed to see his body. (They were upset, yelling, screaming, punching walls, throwing things).

PKApple is right though - if it is a (adult) trauma but they look like they will generally be fine - family waits outside (with updates from the chaplain) until we can get the immediate tests done (Xray, CT, Lab) and family is let back within fifteen or twenty minutes of the patients arrival. If the patient is coding or things look like they are going to go bad and family acts like they can handle it without distracting or getting between the staff and the patient, then they are welcome to be in the room. The chaplain always stays with these individuals.

Jennifer, RN · Nov 2, 2006

Sometimes, you watch and learn. I worked with a nurse in the ED (she had been a nurse for years and recently retired), and I will never forget the way she took care of very ill pts and their families. She always set out a few chairs next to the bed, boxes of tissues, and encouraged family to talk to pt and hold their hands, even when they had tubes everywhere and multiple ivs and tubing. She did this with a STEMI code once prior to transfer to cath lab, and I remember the pt ended up dying on the table in cath lab. It left a huge impression on me, and made me realize that in the whole impersonal process of saving lives, there are REAL family members that care a million times more than we do for the pt lying on the strecher. To deny the family the last few minutes of life is selfish. In my world, there would be more lawsuits about denying family members access to their loved ones (regardless of age) during the death of their loved one (code equals death in most cases).