of Cheyne-Stokes and mottled skin
October • 21 • 08
Sent a patient to the morgue today. It was my first.
Surprisingly, I handled it better than I expected. I told my preceptor at the beginning of the shift that if the patient dies, I’ll totally freak out. When it happened I was able to maintain my composure and handled everything as if I was a pro. I could not have done it without our other staff nurses. They were very helpful in the post-mortem care. It was actually more of a hassle doing all the phone calls notifying the patient’s physicians and organ donation hotline.
When I think about it, it was probably for the patient’s best to have passed on. She’s been in the hospital for almost a month. Her endometrial cancer has widely spread. All we could do was to keep her as comfortable as we could.
After we did the post-mortem care, I hugged one of the patient’s daughters and told her I’m sorry for their loss. She was very thankful for our nursing service.
