So this weekend, I saw my first dying patient, and I was assigned to sit in his room with him so that he wouldn't be alone when he passed.
Well...I cried pretty much the whole time I was in the room. The man was elderly and in stage 2 Alzheimer's, so he may not have known what was going on (at least I hope so) but I still teared up.
Is this normal for your first time? The other nurses said it never gets easy, you just learn to cope better. Any thoughts on how I should have handled it? They all seemed to think I was fun, because I wasn't crying buckets or anything.
I did get better when the hot ER doctor came in though.
That's you, though. If there is a God/Afterlife, he's screwed me over in my life BAD and I doubt I could ever like someone that has done to me what has been happened in my life.
However, I view life as continuous anyway even though I don't believe in a higher power. No pre-life where we didn't exist, no afterlife. We are all composed of atoms that have always existed and will always exist even after we die, so we never truly DIE, just change forms :)
That's you, though. If there is a God/Afterlife, he's screwed me over in my life BAD and I doubt I could ever like someone that has done to me what has been happened in my life.
I'm so sorry to hear that. I've definitely had times in my life when I questioned why such bad things happened. I lean more towards the "sin has entered the world" point of view. To me, it's not God that sends the bad things. They've just been happening since "the fall".
However, I would never want to force my beliefs on you. The world doesn't need another Inquisition, does it?
I think it has to be a genuine, non-pressured decision.
I am happy that you were actually assigned to be with this pt to "see him out". I have never heard of that outside of my own experience. There is always time to hold a hand especially if no one else is there. No one comes into this world alone and leaving should have the same honor and respect. I think it is an honor to give a pt their final act of compassion and reverence.
I'm really concerned about how I'm going to be able to handle this situation when I get faced with the death of a patient. Ever since my dad died when I was 14, I cry/weep when someone I know dies. I recently lost a highschool friend to cancer. It took me a long time to stop crying. Is it ok to cry at first? What if I face this during clinicals and can't get myself together? I think about this quite a bit because I don't want to be unprofessional but crying is very hard to just stop.
greygooseuria
334 Posts
That's you, though. If there is a God/Afterlife, he's screwed me over in my life BAD and I doubt I could ever like someone that has done to me what has been happened in my life.
However, I view life as continuous anyway even though I don't believe in a higher power. No pre-life where we didn't exist, no afterlife. We are all composed of atoms that have always existed and will always exist even after we die, so we never truly DIE, just change forms :)