My clinical day (kinda long)

[IamVickiRN]

So my day in clinical sorta sucked. My patient is actively dying. My care consisted of comfort measures; more so for the family than for him. He was an interesting learning experience. I got to do a few things that I had not done before so that was cool. Initially his wife was the only family there and I had some time to chat with her while I did my assessment. Family members can be a great source of information. She doted on him while I did my thing. She wrote down everything I wrote down, asked questions and dried her tears. They will (hopefully, but more doubtfully) have their 59th anniversary in January. I tried to offer her comfort the best I could while staying professionally detached. When it came time to give him his morning bath she said she would go for a walk and get some air, "I know you will take good care of him. I can tell" is what she said to me. As she left the nurse that normally would have cared for this patient asked if she was ok, why was she leaving the room? Apparently she normally stayed pretty close. She told her that she knew he would be ok and taken care of and that she felt at peace with me there. I went about my task of bathing and caring for my patient, and although he was totally unresponsive, I talked to him as if he could hear me. By the time his wife had gotten back to the room I was getting ready to shave him. She started crying. She said that her husband would never have let his whiskers get so bad and he would appreciate the shave. Keep in mind that *I* am not a professional face shaver, but I gave it my all today!! He had baby butt smooth cheeks when I got done with him. Again, she cried. We talked of how handsome he is and what a looker he was in his younger days. Then she asked me if I thought she was doing the right thing by letting him go. How do you answer that? These are people I have never met before. I told her that I had read his chart, I knew his diagnoses and situation but I didn't think I could tell her professionally if her decisions were correct. I told her only her heart could make that decision. Shortly after we had this conversation her daughter came in. Her first comment was "Somebody shaved Dad!" I left the room with a lump in my throat. I spent a lot of time back and forth, in and out of the room, gave lots of hugs, held hands with total strangers, and did what ever I could to try to make everyone more comfortable. After lunch I was going to discharge my patient to the nursing home to Hospice care for his final hours/days. Once all was said and done, Medix had arrived to transport my patient to the nursing home, I was helping the wife and daughter get the last of the belongings from the room. That's when she said it to me. His daughter came to me, put her arms around me and said Thank you, and I'm sorry about your dad, too. I never once mentioned my dad all day. She saw the tears in my eyes and said "either you've lost your dad, or he is sick, because only another daughter that's been through this would have done the things for us that you have done today." All I did was shave his face and care. Just the things that I wanted from the nurses when my dad was dying. It's been a long day, way more emotional that I would have expected, and just one more reminder of why I wanted to be a nurse. Sometimes even when you don't realize you need it, you get a reality check and things become so much more clear!

[Mommy_of_3_in_AL..RN]

This brought tears to my eyes. This is why i too want to be a nurse. The small things that are seen as big things in the faces of the loved ones of your patients. That is mostly why i want to work in ICU..Sounds to me like you will be a great nurse. You have the esential compassion that we all need to have.

[nrsang97, BSN, RN]

You will be a wonderful nurse.

[Alex_RN2b09]

Thank you for sharing your story, it made my day. :-) You will make an awesome nurse and I wish you nothing but the best now and in the future.

[fiveofpeep]

I wanted to shave my dying guy in the ICU yesterday, but he was on a heparin drip so everyone just laughed at my "niceness/naivette"

[famous74]

That is an awesome story! Thanks for sharing.

[Virgo_RN, BSN, RN]

So my day in clinical sorta sucked.

Huh?

Sounds like a wonderful clinical experience to me!