Skip to main content
Category

Trauma

Baby K Part 2

Baby K’s death, my experience with the cold room, and the visualization of her with the Jizo Bodhisattva was only the beginning of my grieving journey. I had a few days off but spent them distracted at a friend’s wedding out of town and then at the Japanese Garden. My first shift back, I felt a dark, distant cloud over my head.  It was difficult to take care of my assignment. I knew I needed to work through what had happened but had no idea where to start. So after work I called my dad.  Our conversation was filled with…

Read More

Baby K Part 1

Working in the CVICU brought many first in my nursing career: the first time I did compressions, the first time I took care of a patient on ECMO, the first time I saw a patient come back from the operating room with an open chest, and the first time I ever withdrew care on my patient. In adult nursing, I helped my coworkers with post mortem care for their patients, but I never had my own patient pass away until Baby K.     This experience profoundly impacted my nursing path: I had to learn how to grieve as well as process…

Read More