Family presence during arrest

[HeartRN]

How do you feel about families witnessing their loved ones being coded? We have allowed a few families to watch us in action while we give chest compressions, and basically try to revive a patient. I think I would at least want the option available to me with my loved one, but I'm not sure I could witness it. I don't mind families around while I work, as long as they don't go nuts on me.....I guess we had a code one night (I wasn't there) and the surgeon told my coworkers to get the family...well, apparently they stood at the doorway and while the nurses were giving compressions they were yelling "Go Dad...You can do it! You can pull through! You always taught us to be strong! Hang in there!" My friend said the guy was so ill straight out of the OR that he wasn't going to live anyhow and that the absurdity of the whole situation almost made her lose it!

[DCJenn]

If it were me, I don't think I need to be there during a code. Maybe because my ex is an EMT, who as I would proudly return from my CPR class, remind me, "you know, if you're not sitting next to them while they're having a heart attack, your class is useless." and he would tell stories about getting to a scene and the family would be freaking out and the person would already be dead but they would go through the motions just to make the family feel better and once they got the person into the ambulence they'd stop.

I think being there through a "natural" death (not a violently occuring death) is fine- but as far as I'm concerned, let the heroics be behind closed doors.

jenn

I've never really thought about this before, but I'm not sure if I could witness it either. I guess I would like to have the option..especially if it was my child. I couldn't imagine wanting to be there with a loved one, but being forced to sit in a waiting room or in the hallway not knowing what's going on in there.

My husband once told me about a family who was present during a code and afterwards they felt comforted from knowing the doctors did everything they could to save their relative since they were there to witness it.

[SueC]

That would seem wierd to me to witness a family "cheering on" the person during the code. I don't think I'd want to watch one of my loved ones if that were happening, though if it were one of my kids, I'm not sure that you could tear me away. I wonder if having the family present opens the door for more lawsuits?