This past Saturday, I went into my Nursing Home job to see one patient, and do a new evaluation on a patient I had seen previously. "Ms. Smith" is a long time resident of the nursing home. I have worked with her for over a month. She is over 90 years old, very frail-looking, and a week before had fallen in her room and broken her hip. She returned to the nursing home after a week-long stay in the hospital, and it was planned for me to re-evaluate her and get her moving again. Fabulous.
I walked down the hallway and poked my head into my first patient's room. She was in the bathroom, so I meandered my way down to Ms. Smith's room to see how she was fairing. Her door was open, so I walked in. She was sleeping peacefully, and I hate to wake patients, so I decided to check her chart first before I got her up.
I went back to the nurse's station, checked her chart, and discovered she was "WBAT" i.e. she could put as much weight through her leg as she could tolerate. Sometimes there is some miscommunication when patient's are transferred back in, so I thought it would be better to check with the charge nurse before I let Ms. Smith go dancing down the hall.
{Me to the Charge Nurse}: "Uh, is Ms. Smith still weight bearing as tolerated?"
{Charge Nurse} "Ms. Smith passed away this morning."
.............*Pick my jaw up from the floor*.......................
{Me}: "Uh... I just went in there, and she was sleeping."
{Charge Nurse} "No..She's deceased. Didn't you notice how pale she looked?"
{Me}: "Well...she always looked pale...."
I almost did physical therapy on a dead person!!! If I thought a broken hip was bad, I sure would have had a hard time getting HER leg moving!
5 comments:
We are both laughing, poor "Mrs. Smith", at your experience. Your Dad says (in his medical wisdom) you should work on your powers of observation!! Your mother says, in her motherly wisdom, at least your were respectful in not trying to wake her up. Can you imagine your response if you'd gone in to wake her???
oh.my.gosh. I am laughing so hard right now. I know its not funny that poor "Ms. Smith" died, but really .... they should have covered her or something! LOLOL That's one for the story books Emmy!
Phew! Is it creepy to anyone else that she's still in her room? I mean, I don't know the turnover on things like removal of dead bodies from their beds and rooms but that seems like the sort of thing you'd take care of right away.
Sal-
Yes, they usually, and should, take care of right away, but the family didn't know which funeral home they wanted, so the body was stuck until a decision was made. A sheet over the whole body sure would've helped. :)
Holy moly Em, you have once again made me laugh aloud at my computer...ahh, I love it! I am so glad you find joy in the midst of the insanity of your current job : )!
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