What have you learned about Death?

[g2255lw]

Hey nurses!

Just seeking some words of wisdom based on experience that you have learned in the nursing field...

What have you learned about Death? On a personal, and professional level? What do you tell patients that are scared/worried about dying, or those that fear mortality? Are you yourself scared of mortality? Were you ever afraid of it, or has nursing helped you to cope and become more comfortable with it?

Thanks!

[Red Kryptonite]

Morphine and Ativan speed up the process

Oh dear God, PLEASE don't go perpetuating this myth!

I just took care of a poor 90-something year old lady with a T8 spinal fracture from a fall. She was writhing in pain, whimpering, absolutely suffering, because her son thinks we hospice people killed his father with morphine and so won't allow his poor mother to have anything stronger than Tylenol! And I don't mean Tylenol 3 either, I mean generic acetaminophen that you could grab at any Walgreens. She was to be discharged home into her children's care, and we tried to encourage her to speak up to them and tell them she needed stronger pain meds. The daughter watched me and the nurse complete an absolutely horrible transfer from bed to commode and back and didn't say a damn word. The whole thing makes me so angry.

I'm sorry, get past your issues and allow us to RELIEVE HER SUFFERING or there's a special ring in Hell waiting just for people like you.

Last time I visited my father I got the beginning of the schpiel about how hospice killed his wife's mother with morphine. And I had to say, "Stop. You and me are gonna have this conversation ONCE, and how dare you go around thinking I would work in a place that does that?!" And I had to spend a chunk of my vacation convincing both of them, I'm not sure how successfully, that we don't use morphine to prematurely off people. It's like everyone suddenly forgets that these people have an advanced disease process that's killing them.

The last thing we need is nurses going around confirming these erroneous beliefs!