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Nurse Stories, Part Fifteen: Life Support (By Gloria Michelle Trainor, R.N.) by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Rated "PG" by the Author.
A nurse tries to deal with patients who aren't doing well.
No matter what we may do, people die or end up damaged somehow. I wish we could prevent such things from happening, but unfortunately, death or disability occurs on a regular basis, and it is something that we in the medical field have to learn to cope with and to accept.
This is Gloria, Gloria Trainor, and I work right in the thick of it, where life and death are played out every day. I work in the Emergency Room, and things can get pretty hairy at times, especially if somebody's life is in grave danger of ending. We try all we can to try to save a person, but because of sudden illness, severe disease, or accident, their lives are snuffed out; and it doesn't matter if they are young or old, rich or poor, black, white, or tan, or whatever: death can visit anyone at any given time, and nothing, absolutely nothing, can really be done to prevent it from happening.
Yet, on the other hand, we have had near-death cases where all hope appears to be lost, and somehow, through an unexplained Miracle, they come back, and they end up recovering fully. I have seen kids on the brink of death suddenly snap back to life, and as far as I know, they are still doing quite well, such as my boss's kids Johnny and Ronee', as two prime examples. Both have nearly died on more than one occasion, but they have come back each and every time, and they are still defying medical odds today.
I wish all cases I have encountered have gone as well as Johnny or Ronee', but I am not God, and I can't stop death from happening. I have seen people who were on transplant lists die because there weren't enough organs to go around, and by the time they got to these people, it was too late. I have also seen people who were supposedly doing well, and they end up crashing, and they grow worse before our very eyes, and it takes all of our skills, our knowledge, and our wits to try to save this person before they end up dead. Sometimes they DO end up dying (it is always so hard when they do, especially if it is a patient we have become close to or if it is a baby or young child), and sure, we do cry for a while; but we eventually get over it. We go on, and we move to the next case, and try to put the previous situation behind us.
Just as hard as those we lose to death are those people we save, but because of some error or unfortunate fluke, they end up disabled somehow, and their lives are no longer the same. I have taken care of kids who dove into the water wrong, and they end up paralyzed or dependent on respirators in order to breathe, and I have taken care of people who were in car wrecks, and they were in comas; and when they emerged, they were brain damaged somehow, and their quality of life was changed drastically. I wish we could have done something to prevent this damage from happening, but it didn't happen, and so we have to learn to accept what has taken place and try to help these people when they come to our hospital, even with everything that has happened previously.
I can't tell you how upsetting it is to see a child or an adult who is dependent on medical technology to stay alive when they were once flourishing, happy human beings. I see the person, but I also see how things were prior to their getting sick or injured, and it always breaks my heart, each and every time. This is why I try not to focus on the person so much as to try to help them; it is too upsetting, and I somehow feel that I was responsible for the way things ended up for this person.
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Reviewed by Amira van Kerk
7/21/2004
Very touching write, dear Karen.
I guess is it very difficult to be a nurse and still feel and care for each and every patient. That costs you so much power and wears you out. Can you ever switch off your brain, eliminate the experiences you had during your day, when you get home? I doubt it.
I do have immense respect for those people.
It's a job I could never do.
All the best.
Suspenseful and close to home, Rain of Deception 2 will leave you in Tears. Much like Part 1, this will shocking sequel will keep you on the edge of your fingertips.
No matter what we may do, people die or end up damaged somehow. I wish we could prevent such things from happening, but unfortunately, death or disability occurs on a regular basis, and it is something that we in the medical field have to learn to cope with and to accept.
