My first truly critical patient!!!

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Specializes in Critical Care at Level 1 trauma center.

I have been a nurse in for three months, all of which have been in MICU at a level one facility. The other day I asked my charge nurse to start getting more difficult assignments, and boy did she deliver! Status post-code, hypothermia protocol, deep sedation and paralytics used to prevent shivering, arrived with BP of 60/40, dropped a central line and arterial line on arrival, patient maxed out on Epinephrine, Norepinephrine, Neo-synaphrine, Dopamine, and vaso-pressin. Coded 2x before arrival and one on my shift. Unfortunately patient died 24 hours later but I have to say that I felt honored that I was trusted with an assignment of this magnitude! I am not trying to brag but I was just excited, this is why I became an ICU nurse!!!

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Specializes in ICU.

Congratulations. That's certainly something to be proud of when you're able to manage such a case no matter what the outcome.

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Specializes in Critical Care at Level 1 trauma center.

Thank you, I have to give a lot of credit to my team of nurses I work with! We work in a 32 bed ICU and all work as one when the time calls. Proud to be a part of something special!!!

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Awesome dude, congrats. People that far gone are usually going to die, medical treatment isn't miracle treatment. Just make sure you're learning something from these experiences that you can apply to another patient in the future and possibly safe a life!

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Specializes in ICU.

If you gave your patient 24 hours, then you also gave the family 24 hours to digest the whole scene and come to grips with it. :up:

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