I told you I was not looking forward to Hospice, right? Well, I have done two days this week...and I have to admit, it's not bad. Today we went to see a lady who was actively dying. She was a resident in a nursing home. When we first arrived, she was really struggling to breathe & it was such work for her, although she was unresponsive. We did assessments on her, contacted the doctor and did some paperwork. We then went on to visit three more patients. After we were done with the other patients we went back to check in on struggling patient #1. I looked in her room and her chest was not moving. The RN I was shadowing & I walked in to her room. We couldn't find a radial pulse, but she was having a shallow respiration every now & then with long stretches of not breathing. Long story short- we watched this lady take her last breath. I am ok, I was not heavy-hearted. (Although, I think I maight have felt differently had any of her family been there at the time.) This lady had been on this earth for nearly a century, and I was glad that the RN and I were able to be by her side when she took her last breath. So- in this semester, I have seen a child take its first breath, and I have seen a very elderly woman take her last breath. That's a lot to see in a few short months!
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3 comments:
I think nursing is right up your alley. I honestly think it takes special people to make good nurses. And you are in the right profession.
AAAAH- thanks Kory. Very sweet of you to say.
Brenda's mom...That's quite a range of life to experience in such a short time. I agree with Kory. You have had awesome training growing up in the family you did. Can't think of a better mentor for such an assignment than your own mother.
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