Topics About 'Death And Dying'.

The window curtains were wide open. I kneeled down beside her where she could hear me and I grasped her hand into mine. I closed my eyes and I began to pray for her. The hall smelled of urine and that fecal odor that always permeates every breathable...

My best friend had a beautiful baby girl last April. Her pregnancy was healthy, and the OB-GYN did not expect any complications. She had an Ultrasound three weeks before delivery that showed many decelerations so she had an emergency c-section. The b...

"When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him." The parable of the good Samaritan, Luke 10:34 There comes a...

When I entered the nurse's station, I immediately felt the typical business of a weekday morning. The morning rush during which everybody tries to get a handle on all the tasks for day was unfolding. One of the nurses looked at me briefly and said, "...

The Winter of 2004 she thought she had a cold that she couldn't shake so she went to her primary care dr., who said it was probably the flu and prescribed her an antibiotic. When it persisted she returned to her primary care dr., who then did a chest...

There are times, however, when the patient can't improve. To our frustration, we all remember times when our patients were terminally ill. Some we didn't know very well, so the feelings inside were sadness and reverence. Some were our favorites, and ...

When the ambulance rolled up to the ER, I could see the EMTs doing chest compressions on my dad. I remembered a guy his size who had coded when I was working on the floor- that guy did not make it. I started to shake and sob loudly. The ER nurse came...

When I started that day it seemed the paramount thing to me just to get rid of the dress bypassing my state board exams. My clinical rotations had become routine stuff after two years. My mentor hardly bothered to check on me anymore. I thought I was...

Talking about the end of life is not for the faint of heart. There are many obstacles, including our individual sense of immortality. It's such a serious topic that I'd like to start with the story of a man who came to see his doctor. He said, "Doc, ...

Death is the reason why I decided to become a nurse. I know, it's a rather strange thing to say and I probably don't mean it in the way that most would. I don't see myself as a caped avenger, fighting death. In fact, in many cases, Death is welcome. ...

"While I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight...He instructed me and said to me, 'Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, an answer was...

Working with death may be an inevitable part of a nursing career, depending on what area your focus is. Learning how to cope and manage death seems to vary from department to department. Please feel free to add to this and help your fellow nurses und...

Reflection: Moral CourageMoral courage is sometimes a shared experience. I have always had the realization that sometime in my Nursing career, I would be faced with the task of assisting my patient while they receive a terminal diagnosis. Allowing th...

I had a strange sense of anticipation as I walked in. Working as a perdiem Nursing supervisor(Assistant Director of Nursing) in a busy hospital, I had strongly felt that I needed to put myself down as available for this Sunday shift a month ago. I av...

Dear floor, ED and ICU nurses, Please forgive me. I know he's dying. I get it. I do. We were told five years. Five years on an outlier and he would be gone. We were told transplant was an option but with the dismal survival rates, we opted for rehab....

My mother also received high doses of narcotics in these end stages to keep her comfortable. As a result, she had been unresponsive for two days. I was sharing the night shift with my stepsister who gave the thorazine at 2 a.m. and told me that she w...

I scanned my list of patients for the day. Three unfamiliar names back to back in the morning; a prenatal visit, an INR (a patient on the blood thinner Coumadin) patient and a BP check patient. I knew the rest of the names on my schedule. My first pa...

The skin is the largest organ of the body and can become dysfunctional at life's end, with loss of integrity, just like any other vital body system, with reduced ability to utilize nutrients and other factors necessary to sustain normal skin function...

She knew what she wanted. She'd watched her husband of 52 years die on a vent, and followed his wishes to remain a full code. But she knew that was not what she wanted for herself. So, she wrote a Living Will, had it notarized, gave it to her persona...

I recently spent 45 minutes talking about death, and hospice, with my husband's sister across the country. Her mother (my mother-in-law)-a delightfully quirky 91-year-old activist who still spends her days faxing her congressmen-just signed on with t...

He was indeed one of the sweetest patients I've ever cared for ever since he was transferred from Pay ward. Not once, did he complain all the agony and discomfort from needles ( as what I remember, since he never grumbled when I was the one injecting...

In a 10 minute period, she would go from hot to cold and back to hot again, requiring multiple trips to her room to adjust the a/c or add/subtract blankets, etc. To add to the fact that her call bell was so consistent that it was the cadence to which...

The PatientDiagnosis: Small Bowel Obstruction Age: 55 Gender: Male That was all I knew of the most influential patient in my nursing career, now and forever, that early day of my first year of nursing. Ray was all of 140# when I met him. A gentle sou...

When I first began working with Baby he didn't have very many words in his vocabulary but did alot of pointing and grunting. Needless to say those that know me, know that I would talk to the wall if it would talk back. So I was going to get this litt...

With the advent of chill winds and falling leaves, it almost seems as if the world is in a hurry to finish its business before winter comes: animals grow thicker coats and store up food for the long, cold months; flowers fade and vines wither; humans...