patient killed herself last week....

Specialties Psychiatric

Published

one of my patients (bipolar) who was discharged couple of weeks ago decided it was all too much. damn...she went for a midnight swim after downing some pills and a lot of booze...and I feel sad.... DAMN

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

I'm sorry to hear that. I wish we could save everyone, but we can't. It is indeed sad.

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i am sorry to hear that as well. just don't take it personal. try this book: the four agreements by miguel ruiz. it is a great helper!

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It is very sad, yes, but not your fault. Remember that bipolar illness impairs judgement, too, so perhaps it was an accident?

Remember, if someone is going to committ suicide, they will do it. They will deny they are suicidal and just go off and do it - or find a way on a locked ward to end their life.

We can only do so much.

SJ

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:o

I'm sorry.

Z

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one of my patients (bipolar) who was discharged couple of weeks ago decided it was all too much. damn...she went for a midnight swim after downing some pills and a lot of booze...and I feel sad.... DAMN

I am so sorry Had a similar thing happen several years ago a man was in one of our hospitial we as nurseing staff felt he should not be discharged and the therapist and Dr dischaged him 2 days latter he was dead. We were all so upset.

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this can happen in facility also..a few years ago a lab tech went into a room and found patient with cut wrists, she survived but could have gone the other way too

i hope that the research into mental disease is stepped up..there is a great waste of life out there..not only those who take their own lives but also those are unable to function in everyday life..this is a burden for their families...a great heartache to see a child that will never achieve full adulthood

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This is second hand old news but a few months back a pt took a dive off our ramp at the Emergency parking lot after the nurse let her go outside for a smoke alone. The pt was a suicide threat and had already been triaged.

Needless to say the nurse felt terrible. :smackingf

Z

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that is soooooo tragic, and hits very close to home.

my dtr has been dx'd w/bipolar and yesterday she was asking me when the depression will go away.

i'm telling you, articles like this evoke the most primal of fears.

very very sad.

leslie

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It hurts when we cannot save our patients. Some are simply so unhappy they no longer wish to be alive. We cannot prevent them from suicide if its what they really want. All we can do is try our best.

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Suicide is always so very sad. I will never forget about that suicide we had in Seattle. The nurse had just told the patient he was on a 14 day hold and she left the room. They had bars on the window which were suppose to be "suicide proof".

They weren't. Somehow, he got out the window and jumped to his death. :o

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I am so sorry for your loss. Although we are professionals, we deal with people and it is okay to have feelings for those patients. I have worked directly with six patients since starting in this field who have committed suicide - I still remember their faces & some of their charming qualities. One patient, who had multiple admissions to our unit, took her life and the hospital went through a debriefing process with us - we also set up a memorial for her from the staff. It helped us deal with our grief and move on to helping others. Please give yourself the freedom to find support if necessary. God Bless :)

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