Topics About 'End Of Life'.

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 ...

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...

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. ...

Palliative care services are a very important resource for those patients who have been recently diagnosed with a terminal illness. Care needs fluctuate throughout the course of any life-limiting disease. No longer are patients required to terminate ...

The first time I met Thelma*, she was rolling down the hallway in her wheelchair, sad deep blue eyes focused on something more than what was ahead of her. She wore a pink sweatsuit, her hair was a mess. I introduced myself, and all she could say was,...

I didn't know nurses drank and smoked. Okay, call me naïve but hey, I was young and stupid, I actually bought the hat. I was also under the impression that all nurses were Christians. WHAT KIND OF UPBRINGING DID I HAVE? WAKE UP NUN. Her name was Heid...

I was just twelve when my parents called me and my two brothers into the living room. I knew something was going on because we had a family room where we watched television and played board games. The family room is where my dad put on the music and ...

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...

After returning from vacation, I was assigned to "Robert", a 24 year-old suffering from septic shock, multi-system organ failure and late-stage muscular dystrophy. He was maxed out on chemical and ventilatory support. In his room, the wasted young ma...

The “she” in question was his daughter. And, no, she was not coming. You never know what a person’s past is, or the darkness that might have shadowed a relationship, but the daughter had been adamant that she was not coming and not to call her again....

Death, for many nurses, is the enemy. We come to work ready to conquer it or, at the very least beat it back, beat it down for another hour or another day. However, I never felt that way; as a patient, as a family member, or as a nurse. Death was nev...

When I went to work that day, it was with a heavy heart. I was preoccupied with my own thoughts and was just wishing that I could just go through with my shift as peacefully as I can. Little did I know that I was about to receive a wake-up call from ...

I had never intended on becoming a nurse, however, that is the direction that God sent me in and I have not regretted it ever since. I loved the nursing home and getting to know all of the patients and their families. I never had grandparents and the...

I thought I would share this touching story with you. I work on a Palliative/Oncology/General Medicine floor and work mostly nights. We mainly have geriatric patients, but we do have some younger children that are on our floor as well. There is this ...

Right now I have three different residents in three different stages in the process of casting off the human shell that has housed their souls for over eight decades. One of them, Allie*, had been in fairly good shape until the night she had a massiv...

Words that are heard by many family members when a catastrophic event is going on in a bed nearby. The lifeline they have held on so firmly is being cut by a doctor who knows the physiological condition of the loved one in the bed. The doctor walks o...

Occasionally, a patient in our care in the Critical Care Unit (CCU) is expected to die imminently no matter what we do. Others may have had a good chance of recovery if admitted to the Critical Care Unit, but then no bed is available for this new pat...

It is always a good thought when one decides they would like to die at home. Surrounded by loved ones, in their own beds. But as the time grows near, many decide that they would rather be in a hospital room, surrounded by loved ones, with a nurse who...

There are 2 types of Earthly hells in my opinion: the physical kind (like being tortured or murdered) and the Emotional kind (like losing someone you love and watching them suffer) I have lived through my own personal Hell and it is not something tha...

I filled the anniversary of Adam's murder with busy things so that I would not have to think about it so deeply. How does one mark the day when everything changed forever? It has taken me most of my life to see past the violent details of the day. So...

It was not a difficult decision to pursue a career in nursing when my first career came to an abrupt halt. I had been an elementary school teacher for six years, enduring two layoffs and finally a school closure. None of the schools had any sort of m...

Care for terminal patients is becoming a booming business as the Boomers come of age. Being one myself, I can tell you that Nursing care for these patients will only become more critical as shortages continue in the nursing field, even as new nursing...

My cell phone rang while I was at work this weekend. I was at the nurses' station surrounded by the nursing staff that I supervise as a charge nurse. Ignoring stares and silent comments that "you are the enforcer of no cell phones at work", I answere...

Death is commonplace to me. As a former ICU nurse and now acute care nurse practitioner, I dare say I have seen hundreds of people die. I consider it a sacred act to be there at the time of a patient's passing. Shared that precious moment with family...

I have a question, or a scenario rather that I have recently come across. Recently at work, I had a hospice patient who was unresponsive with respiration between 7-8 bpm with long periods of apnea. Resident was thought to be in the "active" dying pro...