Pt dies on BSC today

Gromit · Mar 20, 2007

If the onset was literally that fast, and his demise so soon afterward, its unlikely you could have done anything to prevent his death even if you had figured out what was going ont. Most likely he had been experiencing a headache well before the visual part of the 'event'.

Ariesbsn · Mar 20, 2007

Wow, this is a very weird story! I've read that some people have some sort of electromagnetic energy around them and can't go by bank computers, and will disrupt electrical instruments. Maybe you are one of these people?

GardenDove,

I haven't messed up bank computers (yet). I've read about those people too and think it is interesting.

Chaya,

I am mostly right handed. However, I reach for things with which ever hand is closest to what I want. I always thought the "sinister" thing for left handed people was silly....until this.

katfishLPN · Mar 20, 2007

As the doc tells it-- An elderly lady went to him, as a checkup is manditory for keeping your drivers license at age 80. she mentioned that she had a "belly ache on and off, because she was constipated." On examination the doc felt a mass. An ultrasound followed by a CT revealed cancer. Because of her age it was determined she was not treatable. It was believed she had 6-12 months.
the morning she was given the bad news, she left his office in shock with her blouse unbuttoned. The woman's husband had been waiting in the car for her. Shock left her unable to speak so he went to speak with the doc. It was determined that she would be admitted to the hospital until she was able to cope a bit better with her dx.
This is where/when I met her. It was early in my 0700-1900 shift. She climbed into bed and refused everything.. pain meds, food, drink, etc, She cocked her head to the side and when spoken to repeated "Leave me alone I'm here to die."
She was a strong woman who, her husband said was preparing food for the family reuinion weekend that was to take place starting that night. She made a turkey, ham, etc.
As guests of the family reunion arrived, they were informed of her status. They were all very shocked she was in hospital as they had spoken with her before they started their journeys to our town.
The woman's "Leave me alone- I want to die" got fainter as the afternoon progressed. Her head still cocked to the side.. she started chain stoking
We moved her to a palliative suite where all her terribly confused reunion guests gathered round her bed. at around 1600 she took her last breath and was gone.
How weird is that?

I have seen the will to live keep people who should have long since passed keep going and those (as in your story) who were healthy die quickly....depending on their will to live!

teeituptom, BSN, RN · Mar 20, 2007

We were helping an old gentleman, DNR, to the BSC. He was an endstage CHF pt on BiPap. I helped get him on the BSC, where he had the last BM of his life, then proceeded to die. We got the easy lift to get him back in bed as he was dead weight at that point. This was all at shift change. God Bless him, he was a nice old guy, and it was his time to go.
Does anyone have any interesting death of pt stories?

That really isnt a bad way to go.

Gromit · Mar 20, 2007

I have seen the will to live keep people who should have long since passed keep going and those (as in your story) who were healthy die quickly....depending on their will to live!

I've seen this as well. Its almost uncanny -the mind really does play a large part in our health and well-being.

I've seen patients that would 'hold on' and even look like they may be improving -until all of their friends and family have visited, and they've made peace with themselves, then suddenly in a matter of hours they die.

My mother did something like this -she was given an expectancy of three days (it had been a long fight with cancer -spanning 13 years, ovarian -which usually kills in less than 4 -at least that was the case when she was first diagnosed). She was given three days because they went to release some adhesions and pare down a tumor that was causing her a lot of discomfort. Her surgion said that he closed her without doing anything because her bowel showed signs of necrosis, and there was just too much damage. She opted to go home to die. I had about 6 weeks of RN school left -I was devastated. She was the sixth family member to die during my two year program (my first family member was my mothers' mother, three weeks into the beginning of the program). Every moment I wasn't at work, or in class, I was visiting mom. She held on for almost exactly 6 weeks. All of her friends came from various parts of the country to visit. A few days before my graduation 'ceremony' (the pinning) she passed away -her last words to me were that she was sorry she wouldn't be there to see me graduate -I only told her that she had already done it -school was over, I'd passed, and that the rest was nothing but formality and I didn't intend to go to the pinning anyway -she passed away that night. I did go to my pinning because she would have liked me to do it, but it was truly the worst time in my life -I couldn't be happy for my loss, but I know she had endured so much pain that to her it was a relief (and she had told us that herself in her last days).

I know full well that the mind, the will of a person can have an enormous impact on their outcome as well as quality of life.

Its why I try to find upbeat things these days even when I have a setback (such as my recent decline in LVEF from 42% to 25% -I have faith that it will get better again -and work to achieve that. My goal is to return to my floor and resume my duties in full. )

olderthandirt · Mar 22, 2007

my story was my first patient to die. i had had a full year of training at a community college and was working as an aide during the summer. i worked the 11-7 shift. when i got to work a patient had just been admitted to a private room (last room, in distance from the nurses station), she had been in a car accident and was waiting for the or to be set up for surgery. they put me with her, as i had the year in training and some knowledge (now that i think about it, that was a stupid reason and move, they had nurses and her surgeon on the floor waiting for that or).

the patient was alert, about 40, sitting upright in bed and we were chatting. her stomach was distended and hard, which meant nothing to me then. there were no marks on her and no one said what her surgery was for.

her and i were chatting when she said that she felt nauseous and i handed her the emesis basin. she opened her mouth and was waist deep in red red blood in seconds. just like that! i stuck my head out the door and screamed for anyone. the suction was a wall unit that was locked. the doctor was there almost instantly but she asperiated and that was it. they had to lock me in the kitchen because i was so hysterical. i just could not comprehend that a woman who was laughing just a few minutes before was covered in what seemed like gallons of red blood and dead. talk about trauma.

Gromit · Mar 22, 2007

Wow, that had to have been traumatic! What a horrible way to be 'indoctrinated'.

deann52 · Mar 22, 2007

When I was new nurse I had an elderly DNR gentleman not doing very well. The doctor had ordered a foley cath since he had no urinary output...the problem was he had a penile implant that had a valve in his scrotum you had to push in order to pass the catheter through. Noone new or old had seen anything quite like this so there he was with three women holding and pumping on his member and scrotum. Suddenly, we look down and notice he isn't breathing, he has no heart beat or, pulse but he has a smile on his face.

OMG that is great! Soooo funny, but if you gotta go somehow...:roll

athflvr · Mar 22, 2007

I have seen the will to live keep people who should have long since passed keep going and those (as in your story) who were healthy die quickly....depending on their will to live!

I work on a medical floor of a hospital so usually the hospice patients come to us if they're considered eminent. Patients families always ask, how long do you think?........... It never ceases to amaze me the people who can't die in front of anyone, or those who need to be surrounded by everyone they ever knew. I had a patient who had fluid that kept developing, chest tube after chest tube until his wife finally accepted it wasn't going to get better (at 55 he'd accepted it weeks before) He was active, up walking the halls toting his chest tube accoutrements with him, joking with staff and other patients, etc. His son came in from out of town, they chatted for a couple of hours and the son went to get coffee. His dad was dead when he came back. I'd have sworn the guy had days if not weeks.

Those patients who are surrounded by family or friends for days and as soon as they all go to eat together, the patient dies. Or the person you swear only has hours (for weeks) and as soon as that one person comes they slip off.

I did have a patient COR in the shower once. I heard just a small sound in the shower, went in to find his teeth had fallen out of his mouth into the drain and he was propped in the corner, blue. I was a mess by the time I got him to a flat surface for compressions. Thankfully that one was successful but his teeth didn't make it.

Gromit · Mar 22, 2007

OMG that is great! Soooo funny, but if you gotta go somehow...:roll

Hehehehe. Yeah, I heard that!

morrison · Apr 1, 2007

Re: BSC

can anyone tell me where to get the list of standard abbreviations or is there is a list available ? thanx in advance