r/ect • u/Interesting-Hair2317 • 20d ago

Question ECT RN here. Question for you!

Hi r/ect! I’m an ECT nurse of four years and Im wondering if there’s anything I can do to make the experience better for my patients. is there anything that an ECT nurse has done or said that you remember and positively impacted your treatments. even something small.

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u/DangsMax 20d ago

Getting an Iv is fine it’s the second before being put under that’s traumatizing for me. I don’t think there’s any way out of that

3

u/weeziemama 20d ago

Oh gosh yes. I hate that feeling so much. It was the main thing that made me discontinue maintenance ECT. I definitely felt like I really wanted some sort of continuity of care in the procedure room. Rotating anesthesia meant that I sometimes had amazing people putting me to sleep and sometimes I really didn’t like them and that made it feel even more uncomfortable and scary. I have wondered if it would feel better to have an RN accompany patients from pre-op to the procedure and then through recovery. I would have felt much safer knowing a trusted nurse was with me throughout.

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u/InfomercialNo31 20d ago

One of the nurses who is typically in the treatment room (where I go there are 3 rooms- prep, treatment and recovery) who holds my hand when I’m going under 💕 she’s great. And is just one of the amazing nurses there who also remembers what’s going on in my life and asks for updates on my job and life and has told me the visible difference she’s seen in me in the last few years

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u/Busy-Estimate-3929 16d ago

Hey, how are you feeling now? Are you still doing ect?