Friday, March 5, 2010

In which Sarah helps a patient die well. How's that for hard core?

I did some of my best nursing today. I didn't save a life. Absolutely nothing dramatic happened. On the contrary, everyone was alive, quiet, stable and at baseline. But, in a way, I saved a patient. Not by me alone, of course, but he was saved indeed. He was saved from tests, from needle-sticks, from indignity piled upon further indignity. Saved from further injury. I greatly facilitated the transfer of a terminal patient to a hospice setting.

A life that is fading with no hope of recovery should traverse softly down a pain-free hill with loved ones at bedside here and there until death occurs. Dignity and respect. Those are the best gifts you can give someone. Dignity. Respect. If you base your entire life on those as a premise, you will do well. In life, and, as in this case, in death. Once the basic needs of existance are met, what we, all of us, need is dignity and respect. Think about it...in our career, our relationships, our parenthood, our recreation. What do we want? Dignity and respect. Something like that should be easy, should be effortless. It isn't. So many people and so many opinions are in the mix. If your dog or cat is terminal and actively dying, you put them to sleep, because it is the kindest thing to do. The terminology among us lay-folk is "put to sleep". How kind, how compassionate. "I love you so. You have been my world for so long. Sleep well, my love". That's what we tell our pets. Dignity and respect.

I hugged the patient's daughter when he was being transferred to the hospice house. I hugged and kissed his wife. They cried. I would have cried, but I don't cry anymore. Still, I held them and cared for them. I cleaned, dressed, and hugged my patient. I walked with him and held his hand as they rolled the stretcher to the elevator. That is what nurses do sometimes. We give when we can no longer cry. We do all we can to help our patients survive, but when it is their time to die, we hope that they die with dignity and respect.

Miles: 15.5
Miles for the week: 37.5

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