We have a rule where I work about no pets being allowed. Last summer I had a young female patient, vented and going to die while waiting for a lung transplant and she was completely with it. I took care of her a lot and got to know her and her family quite well over the 6 weeks she was with us. I found out early on that she had a cat that she found as a kitten 15 years earlier. I am an animal lover so I decided one night to take her husband aside and see if it would be ok if he snuck the cat in. He nearly started to cry. He said I have been debating trying to sneak the cat in. I can't believe you are going to help me do this. She spent about 20 minutes with her cat and then the cat went home. She seemed more at peace after that. We also brought a dog in once back when I had this wonderful manager. She actually arranged the whole thing. The dog laid on the bed with this COPDer and he died peacefully later that night. His wife siad the dog was beside herself prior to the visit but that she was ok afterward. I guess she just wanted to say goodbye.
So what rules have you broekn to make a patient happy? For me it was well worth every second of those 20 minutes. I wouldn't have cared if they fired me!:)