time of death

Oh my gosh, I am so glad that I am not the only person who has said someone is dead when they are not! I had a patient not breath for over 3 minutes, no heartbeat, nothing. I went down to call the doc and the son ran down yelling, he is breathing again! Sure enough! Lived another hour or so. Family told me he was alway a practical joker and they saw this as his one last prank. They sat and chuckled about it up until the real time of death. Then they leaned close and asked him if he was sure this time, lol.

This is almost my exact same experience with my mother (another practical joker) when she passed. Her hospital room was filled with family members and when the nurse pronounced her the room filled up with the sounds of crying in perfect unison...and about 5 seconds later when the nurse said, "oh, wait, there is still breath", the entire room STOPPED crying also in perfect unison! Maybe you just had to be there, but it just sounded so funny to me and I immediately thought, oh you tricky thing!! and turned my face against my husband's chest and started laughing hysterically!

I know of plenty of people who would NOT find such an incident funny at all, but I feel it was a very special last moment between me and my mom.

It always made me nervous when I was a new hospice RN pronouncing death (I worked in an inpt facility). Esp. when apnea lasted >1 min, then pt would start breathing again.

the first time I observed the 'funeral man' put a body on the stretcher and pulled the lap belt across, the "whoosh" sound coming out of the lungs was enough to almost make me pass out.

I'm better with it now. But it certainly isn't easy. And never will be.

I was w/a home hospice pt one night when he passed. I had been a hospice nurse maybe 2 or 3 months. 0 VS, 0 respirs. I still waited about a minute, before telling the family (who were all in the room). His wife threw herself across the pt screaming, "don't leave me!" Then that final "whoosh" came the whole family started yelling that his wasn't really dead....just sleeping. Scared the **** out of me! I finally convinced them he was gone. That fear stayed w/ me for a long time.....that maybe the person really wasn't dead.

I guess if it really does happen that a pt isn't really dead after telling the family they are, I'll just start yelling w/ them, "IT'S A MIRACLE!!"

We can't say "time of death" at my facility--that's for the MD to determine, not the nurses. We chart no V/S for x minutes....blah blah blah.