experience –
Stopped at a car accident and patient died in my armsRating: (votes: 0) I'm a psych nurse, we don't handle any type of trauma, but this experience really makes me want to be an ER nurse or OR nurse, but I don't know if I could handle it. I was not affected by the blood, or his head wound, or any of that at all, but I just feel so terrible, I didn't even know him but I feel like I lost someone. (Not to mention my father died 4 months ago and I was with him, holding his hand when he passed away). Me and the friend that was with me went and put a cross and flowers on the interstate where he died, and it almost brings me to tears when I see the huge spot of blood all dried up where he was laying on the concrete. I wonder if there's anything I could have done to save him that I didn't. I can handle the scene, just don't know if I can handle the emotional aspect of it, losing a patient. I've heard it will never get any easier, I'm just sad. Well thanks for reading. How you feel. I was an EMT for years and you nev forget the ones you see just slow and then stop right in front of you. Accidents are the worst. Its worse because unlike the elderly or the severely ill the people on accidents arn't supposed to die. They didn't get them selves killed it was someone stupid, or a stupid mistake that just suddenly ends it for them. Its life interrupted which makes it just different. It gets easier with time, but that spot on the road will always jar you memory a little. That's one of the reasons I stopped running EMS. I was doing it in the area where I lived and there were to many ghosts around. Comment:
Thank you for caring about your community and being their so they did not die alone. Time will help heal you witnessing this trauma.Remember that Employee Assistance Program can help one deal with traumatic events in our lives both on and off the job.
Comment:
You weren't affected by the wound or the blood because you connected with him as a person. It's good to talk about it. I'm feeling teary just thinking about it (((hugs))) to you. I'd like to reinforce NRSKaren's advice to seek out Employee Assistance to help you process this event.
Comment:
I hope his family can find comfort some day in knowing that he was not alone when he died.
Comment:
Everyone should be so lucky to die in the arms of someone offering comfort.
Comment:
I think that sometimes we are put into a specific situation for a reason. Yes, the patient died in your arms, but he didn't die alone. He died with someone caring for him. Thank you for being there and caring for him in his final moments. Take some time to care for your self. What you went through could rattle even the most seasoned trauma nurse. Without being there, nobody can play armchair quarterback as far as whether you could have done anything to save him. From the way it sounds though, it sounds like you did everything you could do, and it sounds like you did everything right.
|
New
Tags
Like
|