Engaging with or witnessing death in your work

Answer

Death in the Emergency Department

Working as a nurse in the emergency department has always been challenging, which is why it is deemed unsuitable for the faint-hearted. For instance, offering quality care for critical patients in an institution that experiences overcrowding is relatively hard, and in most cases, the number of casualties increase exponentially. Similarly, managing the emotions of grieving family members is discouraging and would easily make nurses depressed hence affecting their ability to deliver quality services to other patients. Being in this department, I have witnessed a number of deaths and these experiences have made me appreciate the value of life and accept the outcome. Initially, it was hard to cope with the situation but as time passed, I became comfortable.  In retrospect, this essay will explain how as a nurse in the emergency department engage with death cases and my views of death.

Death Experiences

Being a nurse in the emergency department, saving the life of a patient is the main priority but there are circumstances whereby patients lose their lives even if the medical team observed all the necessary measures to save a patient’s life. In my line of work, I have experience a significant number of deaths especially from patients who have been injured badly or those at critical medical conditions. In most cases, physicians tend to be blamed for being incompetent. Apparently, researchers have been able to establish that the high number of death experiences in the emergency department was influenced by nurses who had little proficiencies in the medical field. However, other studies have proved that there are several factors such as availability of medical equipment and the state of the patient which increase their probability of dying.

I still remember the first time I experienced the death of a patient who was brought in by a Good Samaritan. The patient was the only survivor in a grisly accident but we were unable to perform any medical aid since he had a long metal rod stuck in his chest cavity. After analyzing the situation with qualified surgeons, it was apparent that any action aimed at removing the metal rod from his chest would kill the patient. Furthermore, he was bleeding profusely. With limited options and time, we decided that the most effective action to take was to reduce the level of pain and just watch him die. Since then, such cases became more prevalent to the point I became immune to their emotional effects.

My view of Death

Experiencing these countless deaths has made me resilient to the emotional attachment of life. This is because some of my efforts in trying to save one’s life have been ineffective. Also, I have come to terms with the notion that death is inevitable and there is so much that one could do to save life. Irrespectively, I still carry out my duties with diligence hoping that I would at least make a difference.

Coping with this situation has not been easy since the physiology of emotions are so firmly anchored into my personality that even gender disparities have little impact. Recent studies indicate that the physiology of feelings is consistent across gender. At first, accepting the fate of death was hard since I believed that my knowledge and skills in the medical field would guarantee my efforts of saving a life, regardless of the situation. However, I had to accept the reality that not all cases have the same outcome. With this, it has now become easy to accept the fact of death.

Conclusion

In conclusion, being a nurse in the emergency department has been challenging owing to the number of deaths that I have experienced while offering care to patients. The process has been detrimental but I have slowly come to agree with the fate of life. Not every patient would be lucky but the few death experiences impose a negative impact on how a nurse would execute his or her next task.

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