I just got home from my first 12 hour shift for the week and what a night it ended up being! The MET team had to be called for one of my patients last night. This specialty team is called when a patient is having trouble breathing but they aren't in cardiac arrest so there isn't a need for a code blue. It was an eye opening experience to say the very least and I am glad to have that first experience behind me but I wish it would have ended differently. This patient also died last night...I had a patient die. I have never had this happen before and I am still trying to wrap my mind around it. I'm hoping that as I sleep today that isn't what I dream about. It wasn't a traumatic experience at all. The patient's family was able to get to the hospital before she passed and say goodbye to her and for that I am grateful and I'm certain they are as well.
It was good for me to have this experience and I'm glad I got to learn how important it is to be respectful of a patient even when they have passed from this life to the next. I didn't learn this because I was having difficulty being respectful but because of the 'coldness' that the person had that came to get the patients body to go to the morgue. It may have just been their way of dealing with the situation or maybe they were having a bad night at work- this I don't know-
but it was very bothersome to me.
I'm sure I will think of this patient every time I have to be part of a similar experience. I hope I will always be moved, just as I was tonight, when I have a patient pass from this life to the next. I am grateful for my job and for the opportunities that are afforded me.
Until next time...
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