Hospice????

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

First let me say I truely love and appreciate the hospice nurses I work with. The other night I had an encounter with a nurse I had not met before who spoke of putting a patient to sleep quickly when the time comes. Is it just me????????

Hppy

[Farawyn]

Maybe she was talking about *sleep* sleep, not The Big Sleep.

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

Maybe she was talking about *sleep* sleep, not The Big Sleep.

I was kind of hoping I just misunderstood her.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

We don't put people to sleep.

I truly dislike the image hospice has for some people. We've talked for years about working hard to change that image and have worked hard on it but still, the image persists of us killing people with morphine.

What we do is honorable. And I consider it a privilege that people trust us enough to ask us into their homes.

Fight the stereotypes! And yes, I hope the person who said this was talking about falling asleep naturally like we all try to do each night.

[Nascar nurse, ASN, RN]

Had a family begging me just the other night to put their loved one to sleep...and I do mean the big sleep. They were just innocent in it all and really believed I could do that. The person they loved most was peaceful but none the less headed that way anyways. I finally sent them home at 1am with fingers crossed he would make it thru the night. They were back early in the morning and much more rested and handled the death as good as they could mid morning. It's just one of those families that "got me".

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

I once had a doc from another country write an order on an end of life patient for a fentanyl drip, titrate to keep resps below 7.

"Uhm, I can't follow that order."

"Why not?"

"Because euthanasia is illegal here. Rewrite is for me to titrate for grimacing, moaning, and increased work of breathing."