Verbatim # 6 CPE Unit

Educator: Beatriz Pacheco

CPE Student: Brandon W. Ross

Interviewer’s name: Brandon W. Ross

Date of visit: 12/16/22
Initials of patient: PS
Hospital and Station: Methodist Mansfield - ED
Length of visit: 60

Part I: Known Facts:

PS is being given CPR in ED room 18 which is not normally where the ED would handle major health
complications like CPR, but the patient deteriorated in a matter of minutes, so they had to start CPR in this room.
All I knew going in is that there was a CPR in progress in the ED. The pt is a 42 year old male that walked into the
ED complaining of chest pain and abdominal discomfort. The family was in shock that the pt had deteriorated to
the point of CPR. There seemed to be a bit of anger and concern that maybe the hospital had given him the wrong
medicine and maybe he was having a reaction to the medication.

Part II: Observations:

As I walked into the ED, I walked by the family room where the Dr. was updating the family on the serious
condition of the patient, the family was distraught, there were many family members there.

Part III: assumptions from observations, my feelings going into the interview:

My assumptions from my observations where that this was a very serious situation that may result in the
death of the patient and much sadness and heart ache for the family. However, I was feeling hopeful that the Lord
may spare him and that the dr.’s efforts may be able to start his heart again.

Part IV: Purpose/focus:

My purpose in sharing this verbatim is to reflect on the visit and see what things I may have done right to
minister to this family and if there were any areas I could do better. My focus is on the people involved including
the patient, the family, the dr.’s and the nurses. Also, on how I was able to minister to them in this situation, by
God’s grace.
Part V: Dialogue:

PS = The patient
PW = The Patient’s wife (life partner)
TPS= The patient’s son
AN= Attending Nurse
D = Dr.
BR = Chaplain
( ) = non-verbals, self-talk
( Chaplain BR walks into the room to meet the family for the first time)

BR 1: Hello, I am the chaplain and here to provide support for your family during this difficult time.

PW1: Do you know how my husband is doing.

BR2: I don’t think anything has changed since the Dr. updated you last. I know they are working on Him and
trying to do CPR. I’m sure the dr.’s will update you as soon as possible

PW2: Ok, thank you chaplain

BR3: You’re welcome.

( I went down to the room where there was a full team performing CPR and communicating with each other. After a
while of watching and praying, the wife came into the room wanting to see the husband and be near him while they
were working on him.)

PW3: (The patient’s wife walks in with a nurse holding her for support if she falls down.) Hey baby you’ve got to
hang on, you can’t leave me. O Lord Jesus, this can’t be real, please tell me this is a nightmare and I’m going to
wake up. Come on baby, please don’t leave me. ( The dr. is explaining what each person is doing. They have now
been doing CPR for 30-45 minutes. The wife steps out into the hallway struggling to accept the present situation.)
The wife states, “how did this get so bad, we walked in here together.” (She says: I can’t do this y’all and walks
away with a family member.”)

( I walked down to the family room and encountered the brother and sister of the pt walking towards the room
wanting to see their brother. They walked into the hallway and looked in in disbelief when they saw the CPR in
progress. The sister began to pray out loud with her head down and with her hands shaking. After about 10 minutes,
I heard the dr. call the time of death. The sister and brother began to cry and embrace each other. A few minutes
later the wife walked down the hallway towards the room and could see the brother and sister crying and new he
had died. The wife began to cry and almost collapse, people were helping her to walk. She walked in the room and
fell on the husband hugging him and weeping. The dr.’s and nurses gave her space to grieve.)

PW4: No, No, this can’t be happening, how did this happen, we had plans, ( she is sobbing) I’m so lost, I don’t
know what I’m going to do now, he’s my heart. ( Other family members walk in and begin to weep, I gave them
space just to be with him.)

BR4: I am so sorry for your loss, I want you to know I am here to help and support you and your family. I will
also need to get a little information from you, but not right now, Please take time with your husband and your
family and I will visit with you in a little bit about the next steps.

(After a little while I met with the wife and the pt’s son)

BR 5: (Addressing the son of the pt) Are you the Pt’s son?
TPS 1: Yes I am his oldest son?
BR 6: I am so sorry for your loss today, what kind of work did your dad do?
TPS2: He was a truck driver, He had just gotten some new trucks and was excited about it. Man I can’t believe
this!
BR7: I am so sorry, I know this has to be hard. Was he married to the lady with him?

TPS3: No, they weren’t married, but have been together for a long time.

BR8: Is it ok if I put you down as next of kin, since you are the eldest son?

TPS4: Yes, that is fine.

( I had learned that the pt.’s parents were not present at this time and lived out of state in Michigan.)

BR9: (I went to speak with the wife and she was also going to be a resource for information and a point of contact).
I put the patient’s son down as Next of Kin, but I wanted to also use you as a resource and point of contact also, by
common law standards it sounds like you would be considered married by common law. Here are some papers that
can be helpful to you on practical matters after the loss of a loved one. Also this is the number you can call us
when your family decides on a funeral home. I know it’s hard to even think of all this now, but you can take a day
or so with your family and discuss this and get back to us. There is also the possibility he could go the medical
examiner, if he does, you will be in contact with them about a funeral home. Once again, I am so sorry for your
loss, I understand your family has questions about what happened, that’s ok, don’t be afraid to ask your questions.
Hopefully, the M.E. can help figure out exactly what happened, we can pray if the M.E. takes him they can answer
some of the questions your family has.

PW5: Thank you.

BR10: Can I pray with you guys? ( There were several family members standing around that agreed) Lord, I lift up
this family and pray that you would help them in this time of sadness and loss. Lord, there are many questions this
family has and I hope they can be answered. Lord, please let the M.E. and the dr.’s be able to figure out what
happened. Please help this family to lean on you and to lean on each other in the coming days. I ask in Jesus name
amen.

( After the encounter with the family, I asked the nurse some questions for the pink card and then proceeded to do
my charting. Some family members were angry and thought it could be the hospitals fault because after they gave
the patient some medicine he seemed to decline rapidly, however the dr. didn’t see any signs of allergic reaction
such as swelling of the airway or typical signs of allergic reaction. Some of the nurses were taking it hard so the
charge nurse pulled together a debriefing and I was able to be a part of that.

Part IV: Analysis

1. The Person(s): PW was struggling and very distraught because she walked in with her husband and now he was
dead. She had many questions and concerns. She was reasonably upset, but she seemed to settle a bit and slowly
accept the sad reality of what had happened. The other family members had questions also, some family members
were even wanting to blame the dr. and nurse for giving whatever medication they had given that seemed to
possibly be a cause of his rapid decline. The Nurse was upset because as they were leaving some of the family
basically accused him of causing the death. The other nurses supported him as he was sad to hear that they had felt
this way. I believe the family was grieving and the anger stage of grieving was coming out and wanting to find
someone to blame for this unexpected tragedy.
 2. The Chaplain: This was a very sad situation, I could in some ways understand why the family was so hurt and
had many questions about how things had turned out the way they did. After all, their family member had walked
into the hospital and was now dead. I tried to be a stabilizing presence and listen to their questions and concerns and
to be able to walk them through this sad time. I silently was praying to God for his help for me, the patient, the dr.’s
nurses, and the family as they were all walking through this together. I sometimes wonder why things turn out the
way they do also. I don’t always understand the ways of the Lord, but I choose to trust him anyway.

3. Interpersonal Dynamics: There were a lot of interpersonal dynamics in this visit: There were the grieving and
questioning family members that were in shock, and sadness, and anger about what was happening. There were the
dr’s and nurses that were saddened and bewildered by why this patient had declined so rapidly. They felt like they
had done all they could do to kickstart his heart and they did CPR for about 1 hour, to no avail. There were some
unique things going on with this visit, and it was a very sad situation. The dr’s, nurses and the family had questions
that couldn’t seemed to be answerable at this time. I was glad to here that the M.E. was coming to get the body and
I hope they can do an autopsy and find a conclusive reason for the death.

4. Theological Implications: The theological implications from this visit that come to my mind are several. First
of all it made me think of the brevity and uncertainty of life and how James was so accurate in saying that our life is
a vapor that appears for a moment and then vanishes away, so we must not boast about tomorrow, but must live
each day as a gift loving God and others to the very best of our God given ability because we never know which
day may be our last. We can never know with certainty what each day could bring forth. Also, there is the ethical
questions about who is really responsible for the death, is it simply God’s will, is it a mistake by the dr.’s, is it the
patient’s neglect of his health? Many questions, but not any clear answers at this time that I can see. I know God is
sovereign and our days are in his hands.

5. Future Goals for learning/ministry: My future goals on my mind now after dealing with this situation are: To
understand better who is next of kin when the patient isn’t legally married, but been living with the person for a
long time. Also, I hope to know better ways to handle these situations. Did I do all I should or could have done to
help everyone involved in this situation? I would do well to read more from the text book the chapters that cover
these kinds of traumatic encounters.