Current Events > Being an ICU nurse is unsettling sometimes, honestly

(+) Yeah! (+)

A long-ish vent:

DNRs with comfort care are difficult for me. Just my take but its unnerving to go from doing everything you can to keep someone alive to doing everything you can to keep them comfortable while dying.

Especially when high doses of pain meds are involved and they are actively dying (not just DNR).

Finding the right thing to say is hard (pro tip: there isnt a right thing to say) and dealing with people that are emotional is terrifying. Knowing how attentive to be is tough. It is not my loved one; they are no longer in need of constant monitoring; the family is gathered around and supporting each other. But it goes against everything I know to check in less frequently.

After the patient expires, the room will likely be cleaned out in less than an hour after the patient dies. It is simply business.

On certain days, you can almost guarantee that room is going to be requested within the hour of it being empty by another initially critically ill full code patient. Doing everything we know to do.

Another CVA, brain mass, hemorrhagic stroke, maybe even a bleed bad enough to necessitate having setup at the bedside to drill a hole in their head to save their life. Maybe youll get a patient who has received tPa and no longer has neurological deficits; maybe your tPa patient will develop a massive brain bleed due to it being given.

And perhaps youll be in the room when the family is being told that their loved one who was totally ok prior to the stroke (perhaps even hours ago depending on how fast they decline) will never be the same again.

Perhaps your patient is 90 and has led a full, rich life and knew they wouldnt desire prolongation of life under those circumstances. Perhaps theyre 30 and wouldve had a whole lifetime ahead of them.

Shit is tough. I dont think Im special or a martyr or some BS like that. Simply observing and reflecting on what Ive experienced and know to be true. Its unsettling to ones humanity and Id be lying if I said its not traumatizing to an extent.
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Woah ok flygon
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#TraumaticExperiences
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this is one reason why a lot of people, including myself, respect nurses and doctors big time.
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Is expires the correct term?
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This is why I don't take it personally if a doctor or nurse seems emotionally detached.
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I'll understand if you don't want to answer this

But do you think there will ever come a time where you become "used/indifferent to it"? (for lack of a better phrase)
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Yeah I worked maintenance in a regular hospital for a while, I had minimum interaction with ICU patients but fuck that. I had to basically just pretend they weren't there while I fixed whatever.
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LightningAce11 posted...

Is expires the correct term?

Depends on who youre speaking with and why they need the information.
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teepan95 posted...

I'll understand if you don't want to answer this

But do you think there will ever come a time where you become "used/indifferent to it"? (for lack of a better phrase)

Oh Im used to it. I mostly leave my work at work.

There are some things that always stick with you, though.
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s0nicfan posted...

This is why I don't take it personally if a doctor or nurse seems emotionally detached.

Yeah it would be too taxing to get real emotionally involved with every patient for 30 years
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Trigg3rH4ppy posted...

s0nicfan posted...

This is why I don't take it personally if a doctor or nurse seems emotionally detached.

Yeah it would be too taxing to get real emotionally involved with every patient for 30 years

Yeah at that point its a you problem and not a job problem.
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*hug*

You're doing good work. Feel free to vent about it.
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okay that's it. I'm not going into male nursing
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WOW, yeah you need a lot of emotional fortitude for those situations. I respect that

_Matchabuu_ posted...

teepan95 posted...

I'll understand if you don't want to answer this

But do you think there will ever come a time where you become "used/indifferent to it"? (for lack of a better phrase)

Oh Im used to it. I mostly leave my work at work.

There are some things that always stick with you, though.

Yeah, I can imagine.

I've never really had anyone close to me die. I'm not looking forward to when it happens.
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CyricZ posted...

*hug*

You're doing good work. Feel free to vent about it.

I couldnt handle anything if a child is involved. Id break down like a baby.
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YokoGeri posted...

CyricZ posted...

*hug*

You're doing good work. Feel free to vent about it.

Thanks yall. I guess Im more so thinking out loud than venting. I chose this job.

Rebel_Patriot posted...

I couldnt handle anything if a child is involved. Id break down like a baby.

Im actually thinking about switching to pediatric nursing, and Im sure it will be hard to leave work at work if I do. But I need to follow my heart and my heart simply doesnt feel right working with adults. Im unhappy with that.
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I'm far from the medical field, but part of my job required to survey rooms for public schools right after the nightmare of a hurricane season. It was all so tiresome and draining being an outlet for teachers to vent about all the problems they had in all the different schools in the territory. You feel powerless to help (since it wasn't in my authority to solve their problems) and it takes a toll.

I can only imagine how much worse it is when life and and is on the line, I can't handle that.
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being around death like that changes people.
doesnt surprise me youre reflective tbh. you do what youre trained to do and move on and on.

after alls said and done. the training you did to move on was a coping mechanism being around death. when you stop working what youre trained to do, the human part of it all can return. you may re-live your experiences some day. imagine 20 years later feeling everything over again without work to move on.
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Do you think its affected you outside your job in your normal life in any way? Like in relationships and stuff?
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Not really. Thankfully
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what's the scariest experience you've gone through?

YokoGeri posted...

what's the scariest experience you've gone through?

Having a code with maybe 3 nurses total on the unit.
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_Matchabuu_ posted...

YokoGeri posted...

what's the scariest experience you've gone through?

Having a code with maybe 3 nurses total on the unit.

what's a code?

LightningAce11 posted...

Is expires the correct term?

Are you really going to be that guy.

YokoGeri posted...

_Matchabuu_ posted...

YokoGeri posted...

what's the scariest experience you've gone through?

Having a code with maybe 3 nurses total on the unit.

what's a code?

Like cardiopulmonary arrest
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