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 partner and I are RNs and we knew, better safe than sorry because children, especially babies can decline fast. When he was first admitted to the hospital in 2014, it was to a pediatric unit in a general hospital. Clinical staff would come in to assess him, not always introducing themselves. My partner and I were often left looking at each other and wondering, was that an RN or an LPN, and what kind of assessment were they doing?
A Surreal Code Blue
As my son's condition worsened we often found ourselves sitting in the hospital room wondering, where was the nurse? As he became more lethargic and his work of breathing increased my partner (who is also an RN) replaced the oxygen saturation monitor probe and took a reading, it was below 80%. We looked at each other and thought, that can't be correct. He went to get the Charge Nurse. She re-took the oxygen saturation, it was again below 80%. It was a terrible moment, that sinking feeling that you get in the pit of your stomach as you watch the Nursing in Charge calmly walk out of the room, and a second later you are hearing "Pediatric Code Blue" blaring on the overhead speakers. I sat there with my partner, holding my 6-month-old son thinking, is that our Code Blue? I did not even have a moment to think as the room started filling up with people. I did not know who anyone was. It was chaos until the medical resident took charge.
My adrenaline went into overdrive, as I saw the tiny laryngoscope come out. Everything was happening in slow motion and fast forward; how was that possible? All I could think was, I do not want the cascade of medical interventions that happens if my baby needs to be intubated. And, in a split second I thought, is my baby going to die?
Throughout this entire process, there seemed to be a designated member of the health care team assigned to explain to me what was going on, helping me to hold my son, and letting me know what would come next. They did not falsely reassure me that "everything will be okay". They did explain what was going on. In those moments when I became the patient and their family, I had that a-ha moment, that realization that this was the true embodiment of patient and family-centered care. I marveled at our amazing health care system.
Transfer To a Higher Level of Care
My son was stabilized in the emergency room and quickly transferred to the Pediatric ICU at Alberta Children's Hospital. I was deeply touched by the pediatrician who was the attending assigned to my baby at the initial hospital in which he was admitted came to the Children's Hospital Pediatric ICU to check in on his progress. I remember being in awe of the multidisciplinary care team that meaningfully included the family in the care team rounds. When my son improved enough to be transferred to a regular inpatient pediatric unit I was deeply impacted by not only the assigned staff nurse but also the Charge Nurses who took the time to introduce themselves, each shift and let me know that I could approach them with any questions or concerns.
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