CPR

I did chest compressions the other day. I'm a charge nurse and I've been involved in a number of code situations, but I had never gotten there in time to do compressions. I broke a rib. We got the patient back. There was a happy ending to the story, but I was shaking for an hour after it all happened. It's truly a lot of work to do compressions. I only did 2 cycles (60 total) and my arms were very tired. It was another code involving what's called a "PEA arrest" where we can still pick up electrical activity of the heart, but it's not actually beating-there is no pulse. Kind of mind-boggling.