First post mortem care

[HopefulReapp]

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Hey everyone

Will be an ms1 in a few months. Just finished my first post mortem care as an aide. I've had many many patients who have passed, but I've never actually seen them after the fact. It has always been before my shift or when I wasn't working.

The pt is no longer in pain or suffering which is a good thing. Id be lying if I said I didn't want to go home right now but I'm just pushing through it. I've been with this pt for a while. These are difficult emotions to try to understand.

For those of you on rotations or are residents, how does it get easier for you and what did you do to help it?


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[PTPoeny]

For me, being a resident has been a lot better for these types of things. You have a group of automatic support people in your co-residents and you get to know your attendings a lot better so you know which ones will be mad with you or just listen or say the right things to help you feel better and get through the day.

Add a student you have your fellow students and probably have designated people to talk to, but that doesn't help at all when you aren't at your school's hospital.

To feel better I would talk to other people involved in this persons care.

 

[NickNaylor]

The other week I was rounding with the our team and we went up to the ICU to see a patient. This isn't someone that I knew personally. Over the course of an hour, though, her situation progressed from difficulty getting intubated -> decreasing saturation -> CPR for about an hour with multiple failed attempts to get blood and fluids going. Ultimately she had very mild trauma the night before (think something benign like stubbing your toe) which caused a bleed. Since she was being anticoagulated she likely bled for a good 12 hours until she finally decompensated. After about an hour she ended up dying. This was a mid 40s F who came into the hospital for a relatively routine procedure. It was pretty rough. Even the resident was obviously troubled.

I agree with the advice above. If you feel like you want to talk to someone about it, talk with a fellow coworker or supervisor who seems like they'd be understanding. It's fine to discuss these sorts of things - it doesn't make you a wimp or otherwise suggest anything about yourself by going and debriefing with someone. If that doesn't work or if you don't think there's someone available to you that would be helpful, consider making a one-time appointment with a therapist. If you're still in undergrad, these kinds of services should be available to you for free or cheap.


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[HopefulReapp]

Thanks for all of the advice


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