My Most Memorable Patient
While I no longer remember her name, I will never forget her face. I will never forget the family that was at her bedside that day. By far the most memorable patient I have ever had, was the only one that literally passed away right before my eyes.That moment when she took her very last breath with her husband at her bedside holding her hand will stay with me for a lifetime.
Pain Management: A Top Priority for the Dying Patient
I worked day shift and came into report that fateful day to hear about a dying patient I was assigned. Apparently, she was brought to the hospital from a nursing home because of uncontrolled pain. The doctor who admitted her was notorious for berating a nurse at a moment’s notice and was the head physician at the hospital and ruled the roost (so to speak) and was impossible to please – reportedly.
The off-going nurse was giving me report, and it went something like this:
“She is in there crying and squirming in pain. She is complaining of stomach upset and nausea but not throwing up. There is nothing I can do because her morphine is only ordered every two hours and she just had it about 15 minutes ago and it’s not helping. She is crying and tearful. Husband and family are a bit upset about this.”
Immediately when the nurse left, I reviewed the patient’s medical record and to my surprise, she had Phenergan, an anti-nausea medication, prescribed but it was never given at this point! Not once. I did note the morphine was
There are some nurses who are not genuine and have a negative behavior such as those in the Bed Number Ten. “Within minutes, another nurse came in and said, All right, Sue, now let’s raise you up. I struggled to move then I remember. I just had a spinal tap. Don’t you get headaches if you get up? Oh, yes, she answered with alarm.
But the staff understood and Dr. Westwood got an ambulance and reached to ED. He presented with diaphoresis, motor dysfunction, paresthesia, nausea, and ascending paralysis from his leg to the upper body, arms, face and head. He became cyanotic and hyperventilating and it turned to be bradycardiac with a BP 90/50mmHg. After five hour long clinical treatment procedures were followed for tetrodotoxin poisoning, his vital signs were
Mildred Pasek, my friend and colleague died on August 8th 2017 following an anterior approached back surgery on July 28th at the New England Baptist Hospital. Before you read on, my goal is not to criticize the orthopedic or vascular surgeon’s professionalism, immense skill or personal care of Mildred as these cases affects all providers on a deep emotional and professional level. My concern is for the post-operative care of patients, like Mildred, who have comorbidities, are not necessarily in the ideal condition going into surgery, or at a critical time can advocate for themselves. As well as the debilitating arthritis, she had hypertension required three antihypertensive medications to control. Those meds were held pre surgery, and never resumed.
Oddly enough, that same person walked through my door about thirty minutes later, or at least I thought it was him. I yelled at him. Full on screamed at him for giving me a medicine that nearly killed me. He looked flustered, but then recovered moments later. “What are you talking about?”
In spite of what she said, he still sent her to rest and he quickly realized her concern about resting: “she threw up her meals undigested, and was manifestly worse…sometimes the [vomiting] was mere regurgitation, sometimes there was nausea and violent straining, with consequent extreme exhaustion” (Mitchell 245). Yet another example of how highly doctors thought of themselves. He did not even give a second thought to her comment and asked her to rest in spite of her pleading. As a result, she ended up in worse condition than when she started
The nurses exchanged concerned looks. I would see those same eyes in my aunt when she visited me in the ICU, but the difference is that one look was worried for possible neck injury, and the latter was telling the news of my father’s death.
Mr. A is admitted to the critical care unit post bowel resection, splenectomy, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and patient-ventilator dyssynchrony (PVD). He is an eighteen-year-old African American man who is placed on an IV infusion of Norcuron and Ativan. The major outcomes expected for Mr. A would be for him to be able to wean of the ventilator, be hemodynamically stable, heal adequately, tolerate his diet, have adequate bowel elimination, and be able to adjust to his life with optimal functioning. The problems that are to be manage include, being on the ventilator, being sedated, having an elevated temperature, having a low hemoglobin, post surgical bowel resection, splenectomy, hypoxia and diet intolerance.
While the nurse may not have believed that the patient suffered pain, it did was not guaranteed. As a nurse, the patient stands as the primary concern, and their signs and symptoms must be noted. It is not ethically justifiable to falsely advertise a medication to a patient. In trials where placebos do get used, the patient consents, whereas in this case study, the patient did not receive information. The nurse assumed an action of a patient and altered her medication, which not only stands
The lady then looked at the paper and realized it was wrong and started to laugh and said “ I am so sorry I wrote the wrong one down.” I knew that if I didn 't notice the papers they would have done surgery on my right knee instead of the left knee. I was moved to another room where other people were surrounded by nurses getting prepared for surgery. The moment I was stationed in my room I was surrounded by different nurses. There was the anesthetic nurse, the head nurse, the assistant nurses and even the nurses that are in training.
The staff nurse followed all protocols defined by the hospital. When Monroe arrived at the hospital there was no apparent emergency. Moreover, the nurse went above and beyond to provide for her, she gave Monroe information where to get OB services and even offered an ambulance
Nurses are faced with ethical dilemmas related to clinical issues, and disease and treatment decisions daily (Kangasniemi,
I have amassed 1200 hours of patient care experience at my first CNA job at The Elms of Cranbury. My experience at the nursing home was challenging but rewarding at the same time.. My duties there included bathing, feeding, washing, transporting, dressing, toileting, changing and dressing patients. I also had to record the amount of food they ate, how much they voided and the size and consistency of their bowel movements. I had to report any abnormalities, complaints, or medical requests to the nurse.
Missed identification of shock symptoms in Ms. Gadner 2. IV infiltration being missed resulting in her not receiving fluid ordered 3. “Scanty documentation” depriving the physician of information on Ms. Gadner’s current condition 4. Administration of valium and morphine, contraindicated in shock, nursing not questioning the order 5. Didn’t communicate need for transfer to Dr. Dick.
Pharmacy technicians work under the supervision of a pharmacist helping prepare and give out medications. It is very crucial for a pharmacy technician to be aware of their work at all times and check their work more than once. Pharmacy technicians need to ensure any medication they have prepared has been done properly, if not that could potentially harm the patients. Pharmacist trust their technicians will always follow system-based processes and provide an extra layer of safety. Working as a pharmacy technician it is important to communicate with the pharmacist and address any questions or concerns, not asking a simple question could cost the life of a patient.
Under the knife I remember my very first surgery. It wasn’t major but to me, an 8-year-old child, the thought of having needles and knives and people all around me scared me awfully. When my mom first told me I’d have to have teeth removed I thought I was going to die.