TranquilityRN
Tuscumbia, AL
Female, 40
I have been a hospice Registered Nurse for about ten years. Hospice is similar to home health except specializing in care of the terminally ill, dying patient. A hospice nurse provides palliative care for the patient during their last months, weeks, days, or hours so they may pass in the comfort of their home and with their loved ones present. I provide comfort and dignity for the the patient and comfort for the caregiver. Following the peaceful passing of the patient I provide postmortem.
Not usually. Not from a terminal illness unfortunately! However there are those that give up of the disease is way more than they can fight.....and there are those that have a very strong will to survive and fight. It's amazing to see what people "hold on" for, like usually mothers not wanting to leave children or men not wanting to leave his wife behind to care for herself. I have had to discharge patients from hospice and refer to home health for what is called a failure to decline. Which means the disease did not run its natural course and cause death within what guidelines are placed on the retention of a patient!! But in a sense that's a good feeling and doesn't happen very often.
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The particular employer I took my very first hospice job with, prepared me best they could. Hospice is truly a calling and is not for everyone. It was a very surreal experience, however, mixed with emotions. I was excited to fulfil my calling, be a rock for those left behind, yet I was full of empathy and sympathy and sadness. The reward of the love and respect I gained from being that important role brought an overwhelming calmness and gratitude and peace over me.
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I was usually not the only person present unless it was someone who had no family whatsoever or family that was not active in their lives. Unfortunately that happens more than one may think. Part of the job of a good hospice nurse is using your talent and training to recognize signs and symptoms of death and from these estimating the time frame that the patient may pass. Therefore, the nurse calls the family to be with the patient to be with them in their final minutes. It can happen and in this case I would call family and congregate with them and explain that their loved one passed and that they did so peacefully. At this point your primary focus is comfort for the family left behind.
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Honestly usually we are successful in managing all the symptoms necessary that there is not alot of suffering. However, people with bone cancer or colon cancer can be hard to manage pain. COPD patients are difficult or me personally because I always felt as though I was suffocating. I think the worst deaths to witness so far have been cirrhosis when the patient develops esophageal varicese and bleed copious amounts. Although the RN prepares for possibly bleeding out by placing darker sheets on the bed and darker clothing to camouflage amounts of blood in case it happens. The family is educated prior to the potential so they are not shocked.
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Antiques Dealer
Does a piece's value increase significantly if it has a cool "back-story" to go along with it?
Hospice Nurse
Ever heard any crazy deathbed confessions or family secrets revealed?
Flight Attendant
What kinds of passengers annoy you the most?
That depends because there are hallucinations which come with impending death! I have had a couple of patients confess to being in love with a spouse that passed prior to them yet they have a new spouse they love dearly. One man confessed to not always being true to his wife but other than that nothing but regrets or wishing they were closer to certain family. Alchoholics wishing they had lived life different and hadnt ran family off. In the case of confessing a murder that would be an obligation on my part to call in social worker and us team together to assess this further. But I'm sure it would have to be reported and investigated.
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Yes I do! However there are times when someone is ready to pass and they have this close family that for our own selfish reasons we do not want them to leave us, have tendencies to say, "please don't leave me" and these people don't pass as peacefully as I would like. It's my job to educate families on allowing the patient to start their next journey they are tired from this fight. Tell the patient it's okay and you will see them again!! So patients with big families or supportive ones have a higher increased good spirit which keeps them peaceful and calm and reasons to hold on longer!
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One old man asked me why I remarried twice being such a sweet lady with amazing calling in life.......I told him I was afraid to die alone! In his final few hours he told me while holding my hand that noone dies alone!! Amazing! I had a military vet in a nursing home and I never met any family, as I approached his bedside for a visit he looked at me so lovingly that I asked him what is it? He said I thought you were my wife, she came to see me last night, looked just like the day I bought her wedding dress, she was wearing it, hair black as coke like yours. I said oh my how wonderful did she come to get you? His reply with a sad look on his face was "she says its not time," I have so many!! I learned true love can exist and even on the other side.
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