RescueNinja

I have a pt right now that has been actively dying for about 2 weeks now. I was super surprised when she lived through last weekend and she is still alive as I type. She has had her final religious blessings and she has seen all of her family. I have...

My little lady finally passed away yesterday. She suffered for so long Sounds odd to say, but her passing was absolutely a blessing!

Thank you all for your replies. I enjoyed reading all of your stories & hope more are posted. They were definitely comforting. I am off tonight, but I have asked a coworker to call me and update me if she has time.

This is how I have always viewed this topic in the past. Purely scientific. The patient will die when their organs and vital processes fail. There's just something different about this lady, but I can't explain it.

I don't know... She just has this look on her face of pain, but not physical pain. I know I sound crazy, but I think she is trying hard to die, but something is keeping her here or her body isn't letting her. I don't know what's making me think this....

I know I'm helping her deep down, but I just feel so helpless watching her lay there so lifeless. Sounds selfish, but it's terrible. Even though I think she looks comfortable and I'm giving her pain meds with every moan or grimace, I still feel like ...

Omg how awful!! The night before last my pt was having periods of apnea > 60 seconds...I didn't even realize that was possible! Then last night she was breathing every 15-20 seconds. So sad! I wish there was something I could do to help her.

I had a death at my LTC home last night and had to call the funeral home to come pick up the body. When the attendants get there, we don't usually go in to get the body with them but for whatever reason I did last night. I wish I hadn't... They were ...

Just a little update - I did call and report this to my DON and to the funeral home. I never heard anything else about it and unfortunately my DON quit shortly after this happened so I don't have any way to follow-up. Now, I always go in with them to...

Absolutely! At my LTC facility no "electronic devices" are allowed, but I explained to my DON that a) I refuse to work without my cell in case of emergencies and b) I use it for nursing reference like drug calculations and whatnot all the time and he...

Thank you all for your replies. I will call the funeral home when I go in tonight and leave a message for my DON. I wanted to report it last night, but didn't know who to speak to first. After I posted I started thinking about what if a family membe...

I have a Res on Lovenox injections right now and I have had to teach some of the older nurses how to give it as some of them had never even heard of Lovenox. Anyway, during my preceptorship I was taught to ALWAYS hold with firm pressure for at the v...

This thread has gone on way too long IMHO. The exact same questions (and some with a few words changed) have been asked and answered repeatedly over the last 8 pages.

Next time if you don't hear back by the day before the shift I'd just give them a quick call and confirm whether you are scheduled or not.

Yes, she used to time me lol. Now I'm a RN on my own and won't be holding the site any longer lol (unless necessary of course) I do give it slowish, with the airlock, deep s/c, 2+ inches from umbilicus, etc. It was just the holding thing that I noti...

Okay...no more holding. Learn something new everyday Thanks all!

I never thought about pts scratching it...interesting point! So we are supposed to hold it?

Hmmm...thanks for all the replies. Maybe it is an old school thought?? My preceptor was an ICU nurse with 25+ years of experience...

I want to know where you have been looking. I am a young, new nurse and in my area it is the opposite of what you are describing. The older nurses are getting all the jobs and the younger nurses are forced to take what is left over or nothing at all...

Not sure, but I've seen it happen. There was one day where it was almost the exact same situation as you described and I was instructed by my DON to mark the nurse as "A" (absent) which means no show, but she called back after and ended up coming in ...

At my facility it would be considered a no show...

Did you go in for the rest of the shift when they called you to find out why you weren't there?

Yikes! In Canada they are required to give breaks, but it just means that the opportunity is granted so it doesn't make much of a difference. There's a minimum amount of time for each hour worked that they have to give us (I want to say 5 min per hou...

The very first thing you need to know about every single patient is their code status. Nothing is stopping pts from going downhill at 7:01 and it often happens FAST.

I've often thought about how much easier it'd be if I popped a foley in and threw on a leg bag before my shifts.