RN Journal - There Are No Simple Cases Part 1

As a twenty year experienced recovery room nurse, I know that no case is ever the same. People are individuals. They react differently to medications. They metabolize drugs at different rates depending on age, body mass, body temperature, kidney and liver functions. Although everyone is different, I can basically expect a certain outcome in recovering people. But in saying this, you can always expect the unexpected. People with long medical histories or extensive allergy list (we've all seen them), generally make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The longer I stay in PACU, the more I get a sixth sense of trouble coming. There was one case that completely caught me off guard. I never saw it coming and would never again think any case was simple.

This specific case occurred while I was working at a wonderful 250 bed hospital in northern Indiana. After working for years in a large trauma center PACU, this is what I thought of as the perfect job. Our recovery room was only four beds maximum and usually only 3 beds were utilized. The nurses in this unit, except for me, had all gone to the same high school and college. The doctors and anesthesiologists were in some cases third generation. The atmosphere in the unit was professional, but very friendly.

This particular day was a slow one. Only two RN's were in the recovery room due to a light schedule. The day was going smoothly. We were about half way through with our few scheduled cases. At the time, the PACU was empty while we were waiting for our next case to arrive. The OR circulating nurse called into the recovery room and requested that a bed pan be ready for the patient when they arrived. She stated that the case had gone on longer then expected and that the patient needed to urinate badly. I checked the OR schedule and determine that this was a foot surgery case. We were informed that the anesthesiologist had done an ankle block with some light IV sedation only and the patient was awake. I replied back that we would have the necessary supplies waiting. It is difficult to place bed pans under patients while a procedure is going on, but not impossible. I have done some circulating in the past myself and have done it. The doctors hate it and so we try to avoid doing it. I could only imagine the discomfort this women was experiencing.

Minutes later the patient rolled in with the OR nurse and anesthesiologist pushing the bed. We could see the distress on the patient's face at the need to void. I quickly positioned the bed pan under her as the second RN applied the monitors. Anesthesia gave me a brief report as a 54 year old female with no significant medical history. Anesthesia then left and the patient finished voiding with a great sigh of relief. I removed the bed pan and measured out 800 cc of clear yellow urine. That's a full bladder for anyone. Then with the assistance of the second RN, I pulled the patient up in bed and got her settled. The patient was very alert and awake. Vital signs were stable and within normal limits. She required no oxygen. We checked her orders and allergies and then hung Ancef IVBP per her surgeons orders.

Things were quiet and my second RN asked if she could step next door and grab a cup of coffee. I didn't think twice about telling her to go ahead. The patient would not be staying long and I could finish up. I finished assessing the patient and then positioned her foot on a pillow. Her dressing remained dry. I looked down and started charting on a bedside table next to her. As I was charting the patient commented to me that her stomach hurt. This perplexed me, due to the fact that she had her foot worked on with no general anesthesia and very little IV sedation. I commented back to her, as I continued to chart, why would her stomach hurt. When I got no answer back, I looked up at the patient. Her head had fallen back and her eyes were rolled to the back of her head. She still had a heart rate and BP on the monitor. I assessed quickly that she still had respiration, but was totally unresponsive. I threw some oxygen on her by nasal cannula and called stat to the OR for an anesthesiologist and assistance.

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There Are No Simple Cases

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