This would be the most devastating thing.

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I am one that loves to watch "ER" and on last night's show, Sam (the ER nurse) walked into the trauma room and it was her son on the gurney. To me this would be the hardest thing to have happen. I know this is only a TV show, but even the thought of having to revive my own child just makes me want to cry. This falls into the same category of Paramedics, Police or Firemen being called to an accident scene and it is a family member. This did happen to someone in my family, my cousin didn't make it after a bad car accident and was transported to the hospital where his mom was just coming into work for the day. She is the one that had to identify him.

I still just couldn't imagine going through a situation where it was your own child or another family member.

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Specializes in Cath Lab, OR, CPHN/SN, ER.

One of the most recent hospitals I worked in, a coworker lost a young son. The first responders all knew her and some even worked with us in the ER. I was shocked she was able to return to work there- I don't think I could have done it, to work in the same room where my child was coded. My heart still hurts for her and her family. :(

We also had a cop who was killed in a MVC- several of the nurses were married to cops, and we didn't know who it was. It was an absolute madhouse. Luckily, it wasn't the husband of one of our nurses, but they're like family.

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Specializes in School Nursing.

it would be devestating indeed. let's pray we never ever have to face this.

praise :heartbeat

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Specializes in ICU/ER.

I dont know if this is an urban legend or not---but one of my nursing instructors told the story of an ER nurse tending to a young child, the child had some sort of accident, dont recall exactly, but the child was unable to be saved..the nurse went with the Dr out to the family and the patients mom was the nurses daughter--that in the adreneline rush of trying to save this young injured pt she did not even realize it was her on grandchild---

Could be urban legend--but could be true--you know how swollen /mangled and bruised some pts can be----

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Specializes in Surgical Telemetry.

As a first responder I responded to an MVA one time and didn't realize it was a friend of mine (he didn't make it either) for several hours until his girlfriend came down to the scene (the accident was only around the corner from her house). It was a terrible terrible feeling and that was just a friend of mine.

My dad is a firefighter and was badly injured in a fire years ago and good friends of the family had to come and tell my mom what happened after they flew him to the hospital.

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My nephew was taken to the ER where his wife worked when he was killed in car crash. However, she was not on duty that day.

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Specializes in EMS, ER, GI, PCU/Telemetry.

i worked with a nurse whose son had drowned at the baby sitter's house. when he got into the ED he was already very far gone. it was absolutely devastating. he was only 5 years old. she was so torn in actually wanting to help us code him and being in complete hysteria. my heart broke for her.

i lost a boyfriend in college to an MVA. i had actually traded off with another medic at the fire station that night to work triage in the ER. although he was pronounced dead at the scene, the other medic knew he was my boyfriend and transported him to a differnet hospital to spare me and i am forever grateful for that. but i will never forget that phone call that i got from jeff that night. i think it was a gift from God for me that we had decided to switch that night and that the other medic had transported him elsewhere so i did not have to triage him as a DOA. i did end up falling apart when i got to the other hospital but i can only imagine the horror if it had been a different scenario.....

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Specializes in Cath Lab, OR, CPHN/SN, ER.
i worked with a nurse whose son had drowned at the baby sitter's house. when he got into the ED he was already very far gone. it was absolutely devastating. he was only 5 years old. she was so torn in actually wanting to help us code him and being in complete hysteria. my heart broke for her.

i lost a boyfriend in college to an MVA. i had actually traded off with another medic at the fire station that night to work triage in the ER. although he was pronounced dead at the scene, the other medic knew he was my boyfriend and transported him to a differnet hospital to spare me and i am forever grateful for that. but i will never forget that phone call that i got from jeff that night. i think it was a gift from God for me that we had decided to switch that night and that the other medic had transported him elsewhere so i did not have to triage him as a DOA. i did end up falling apart when i got to the other hospital but i can only imagine the horror if it had been a different scenario.....

That was very thoughtful of him. That was my thinking of my coworker- I don't think I could enter that room without my personality changing or judgement being clouded.

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Specializes in PICU.

This has always been my worst fear. One time I was responding to our trauma room for a drowning of a 4 yo boy. My son was 4 at the time. The air care crew wheeled him in doing compressions and said, "We have a 4 yo boy named ____," which was my son's name. I was almost frantic to see his face and clothes and know it wasn't him.

Normally I stay around to help clean up, but my heart was so broken for that family that I had to leave. I still can't ever think about them without crying and that was 3 1/2 years ago.

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Had a co-worker whose teenage son was murdered while out with friends. He was out with his girlfriend when another guy started pushing her around. The son tried to intervene, and the aggressor pulled out a gun and shot him multiple times in the stomach. They never caught the guy.

He was taken to the SICU where my co-worker was working and died a few days later. She described to me seeing the new admit come in and realizing in shock that it was her baby boy. I don't know how she continued in critical care after that. The other nurses let her "help" them as his nurse, and go with him everywhere. She deperately needed to be close to him until he died. Truly heartbreaking.

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Specializes in Cardiac, ER.

As an ER nurse, this is my greatest fear. Of course I would NEVER be the one to "revive my own child", at that point I would no longer be a nurse, but a Mom. A few months ago a co workers son died in our ER, it was devastating for all of us involved. The nurse actually worked at another ER in town, but we all knew each other. Her son was brought to our ER, while Mom and Dad were both at work right up the street. The fact that he was brought to our ER was a blessing in disguise, but it was a very tragic situation for all of us.

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This happened to someone I knew. I have a friend who is in paramedic classes and her instructor said the first trauma he ever got called to was a car accident and it was his little brother, he didn't make it.

He knew that was the moment that would decide whether or not he was going to make it as a medic. He has been a medic for 15 years now.

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