The Patients Who Break Your Heart

From the earliest days of nursing school, when we were taught never to become "too involved" with our patients, we nurses find ourselves balancing precariously on the gossamer thread that separates caring for people and caring about them. Nurses Announcements Archive Article

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dinkymouse

182 Posts

I took care of a woman in a ltc that had ALS. She was in her 50's and was unable to move from the neck down. She could still feel everything. A wrinkle in the sheets, an itchy nose or a foot positioned wrong. She drove everyone nuts. I found that if you took a few extra minutes to make sure the sheets weren't bunched, the radio on a station she liked, (instead of one the staff wanted to listen too) and scratch her nose she didn't yell as often. I found out that she had been a concert piano player and loved music. She spent most of her time in her room. Her family had the legal status to determine if she was dnr or not. She said often that she wished they would just let her go. She frequently had pnuemonia and they wanted it treated even if it meant putting her in the hospital. When I left there she was unable to swallow and move her head at all. The family insisted that they put in a G-tube. I often wonder how much longer they forced her to stay alive. I can't imagine what it's like to be some of these peole with diseases like these.