One of my favorite on-call joys is perking up my ears while we're in the middle of a code and listening to the random sideline conversations that take place at the moment of someone's passing.
I find it both amusing, the topics that come up! and kind of touching or poignant sometimes.
Occasionally there's radio playing 80s hits at one of the nursing desks. Last night two respiratory techs were talking about the best time of year to plant parsnips. There are always a handful of nervous interns and medical students milling about, chit chatting about other patients, and secretly hoping no one asks them to do anything important.
It's just such a striking reminder that life really really goes on.
I suppose it could be seen as irreverent or disrespectful to the moment, but I kind of appreciate it. And we can't just fall apart every time a code happens, that would do a great disservice to our living patients that we'll have to get back to in a few minutes. I mean, if I was dying I sure wouldn't want every doctor in the place standing around in reverential silence. Or crying. I think I wouldn't mind so much overhearing one final conversation about parsnips.
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