Monday, I came in to work at 7pm after 2 days off. Everything was going kind of slow and easy and I was expecting a new patient from PACU (Post Anesthesia Care Unit). As everyday work routine, I started to passing medication and checking my patients around 8pm after I got my report from day shift nurse, L.
PACU faxed the report long before I came to work. The patient had bilateral total knee replacement done, a 83 years old female. They called to confirm I have received the faxed-report and told me they were going to send the patient to the floor. I hang up the phone and continued my work at my last medication round on a patient. I heard PACU came up and the family member were all in the room. I thought that I would go down there to check on my new patient as soon as I finished passing medicine in few minutes. Then I heard they broad casting something but did not pay attention to it. As I was talking and watching the patient swallowing pills, I heard C was running like tornado in the hall way opening the storage door getting sliding board. I ran out to the door and asked what was going on. She did not answer. A, came out from another room like I did. We ran after C to the new patient's room. There were already about 20 people in the room. I was shocked when I saw K doing cardiac compression on the bed, Dr. P was directing the whole process, S was giving ambu bag then compress the IV fluid.
WHAT THE HECK......
I jumped into the crowd trying to do things that in the every minute period was so crucial to the patient. The EKG monitor shown a single straight line, then epi and nor epi were given to the patient still no pulse. Cardiac compression was still performing by K. Then withing couple minutes, we saw the heart beats on monitor. No body said anything, but I believed we all relief when we saw that wavy line on the monitor.
HOW DID THESE ALL HAPPENED IN ABOUT 10 MINUTES....
L, the nurse technician went into the room to take vital signs when PACU nurses came to the floor with the patient. She couldn't get BP, pulses and the patient was unresponsive. She was shaking and running to the charge nurse. When the operator was announcing the "code blue room 207", I missed it while passing medicine in the other room. PACU nurses dashed back to the room when they heard the announce on their way to PACU. That was how it happened so quick. PACU nurse said the patient was still talking to them in the elevator. It seemed that they had some trouble in PACU with that patient. Her blood pressure was low down there...
After this code blue, I think there are a lot I can do better. I am just glad that she did not die on me......In the medical field, uncertainty is such a trick.
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