My First Code

Perhaps Death Is Proud; More Reason to Savor Life
By THERESA BROWN
Published: September 9, 2008
A staff nurse tells her first experience with “Condition A,” the sudden death of a patient.

Near the end of my first year as an RN (or Real Nurse).
The article on NY Times chronicled the first code ("condition A" = cardiac arrest) I encountered - aka the Exorcist case.
Uncanny similarities in details from my experience that I thought one of my colleagues had written it.

"Inside the room I found my patient with blood spilling uncontrollably from her mouth and nose. I remembered to put on gloves, and the aide handed me a face shield."

I remember grabbing a box of face shields, an item we don't normally wear in a code.
The floor was like a slip-and-slide, with blood instead of water.

"The reigning theory was that part of her tumor had broken off and either ruptured her pulmonary artery or created a huge blockage in her heart. Apparently this can happen without warning in lung cancer patients."

Many of us posited this theory as well. The suddenness of it shocked us all.
How can you explain this to a grieving family member when the patient was walking and talking mere hours ago?
That code became legendary - a profound shared experience between those who were there: it gave us nightmares (experienced and new RNs alike). I found it cool in a morbid way. But it was so traumatic for many that the manager had to send a counselor to verbalize our feelings about it.

Regarding the article: About time a nurse has written for the Science Times.
But why does it have to be a feel-good piece about death and dying?
Besides, I'm sick of John Donne being quoted in oncology - let "Wit" be the end of that.