A sad and unexpected loss...

[night owl]

It was like a nightmare. My night was about to change and I hadn't a clue....

I get to work, park my car and start walking to the building when someone says to me, "It's a shame what happen to -----." "What happened to her?" "Her house burnt down and she died." "WHAT??? you're not serious. OMG!!! I couldn't believe it, I wouldn't believe it!! I was now in shock. By the time I got to my unit, I was crying like a baby and wasn't sure if I could even work. One by one the others trickled in. Their reactions were all the same of shock and disbelief. Who was crying, who was dumbfounded and others came in shaking their heads and just sat down saying, "I can't believe she's gone." I didn't remember anything about report, what little we recieved. I just couldn't get her out of my mind. To tell you the truth, I was totally numb. The entire night was one big blur and how I managed to get through it all, I'll never ever know. We worked together for so many years.

She was a wonderful nurse, one you'd love to work with. She knew everybody and eveyone knew her. All the residents loved her and she loved each and every one of them in their own special way. She always took the extra time to help them no matter how hectic her day was going. She always jumped in and did OT when she was needed and did it with a smile. She was such a caring person and contributed so much to nursing. This morning I wanted to see her walk onto the unit with her extra large cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee, her extra large smile and her extra loud, "Good morning everybody!" but it didn't happen. It will never happen again. She will be sadly missed every single day by everyone. When our shift was finally over, I slowly walked back to my car, got in and broke down. I will truly miss her.

[jemb]

Oh, nightowl, so sorry.

[LPN4Life]

That story sounds so familiar to me...........

I worked with a nurse 3 yrs ago, he was awesome, just that kind of nurse that you wish you could be and always strived to be........I hadn't seen him in those 3 yrs and here he was at the LTC facility I was at, just visiting people......I got a chance to sit down and talk to him and he was trying to get a job there, I was thrilled that I would be working with him again......I was back to work on night shift that same night and he was there again, making his rounds visiting people and trying to score some brownie pts to get his job back, he asked me to let him out of the building, I walked him to the door, and for some reason felt like I should hold his hand, he started crying and talking about how he wasn't healthy and had a heart attack 3 wks prior, and other things, I listened, and hugged him on the way out the door, that was at 1:30am................the evening when I got to work I heard people talking about how someone had died, and I found out it was him, he died that night in his sleep........it was so odd to think that I might have been the last person to talk to him, and it was really hard for me to deal with, I kept thinking there was something I should have noticed, by being a nurse, a sign, or something...........That was a couple of wks ago, its still hard to deal with.............

I'm very sorry for your loss, and I understand your shock and the pain that you are going through..........

[hock1]

How awful, my prayers are with you all.