The most common myth I have heard is this one. In an unnamed ITU it was noted, with great concern that on a particular weekday (let us say Thursday) that patients were dying with alarming regularity.
The management looked into this of course. It was discovered that Thursday was the cleaner's day for doing a deep-clean.
Of course! The cleaners were UNPLUGGING THE RESPIRATORS to plug in their vacuum cleaners:eek:
When I worked LTC people died in 3's, I'm talking within days or weeks of each other... then we would have a month or more with no deaths, then the cycles repeated.
Also, if we were ever on break sitting outside and saw a cat hanging around the building, someone died on that shift...
myths, yes... but found to be true in my experiences.
Oh... also had several residents who would talk of seeing people, "men in black" shortly before they passed...
Specializes in Plastics. General Surgery. ITU. Oncology.
The "bad things happen in threes" myth is a really interesting one.
Three has always been a "magical" number as far back as Greek mythology and the Three Fates. Christianity carried it on with three wise men and of course the Holy Trinity.
Then of course there is the well-known First World War superstition that if three soldiers use the same match to light their cigarettes the third will die.
I've seen this "deaths go in threes" stuff everywhere I've ever worked. Folk insist it is true even though there may be long intervals between incidents begging the question do deaths happen in threes or are we counting it that way?
Specializes in Spinal Cord injuries, Emergency+EMS.
The family or designated next of kin-in the states has the right to have their loved one be a DNR or not-the MD makes suggestions but doesn't make a patient DNR against the family's wishes.
it's not the case in the UK
the views of family regarding care can be taken into account but unless there is a specifc power of attorney in place , the professionals responsible for the patient will act in the patient's best interests and /or in line with a properly documented advanced directive...
clinical futility is a valid reason for a DNAR in the UK
PedsAtHeart, LPN
375 Posts
When I worked LTC people died in 3's, I'm talking within days or weeks of each other... then we would have a month or more with no deaths, then the cycles repeated.
Also, if we were ever on break sitting outside and saw a cat hanging around the building, someone died on that shift...
myths, yes... but found to be true in my experiences.
Oh... also had several residents who would talk of seeing people, "men in black" shortly before they passed...