My First Code Blue - When the Nurse Becomes the Patient
The first code blue that I took part in happened to my six-month-old child. The experience forever changed the way that I look at person-and-family-centered care. Nothing could prepare me for the moment that I heard the code blue being paged on the overhead speaker and made the connection that it was for my child, but my and my partner’s experience as nurses is what kept us together in those surreal moments when the outcome was uncertain. I worked in a hospital every day. All kinds of codes were called on the overhead page throughout any given shift. As nurses, we are trained to work swiftly, thoughtfully, and calmly during a code to keep both the team and the patient working like a well-oiled machine to save the patient. I never imagined the feeling of helplessness I would feel, being in a hospital room with my baby gasping for breath. When my third child was six months old he had a respiratory virus. We thought we were over-reacting by taking him to the hospital, but, both my partne