End Of Life Clinical Analysis

During the End of Life meeting I learned many things that I did not even think about when dealing with a patient that is dying or even a patient that has even suffered a loss by being hospitalized. As a student in nursing school we tend to not think about everything going on with the patient because we are so wrapped up in following a precise plan, such as at this time I will conduct an assessment on the patient, then I will pass out medications, do charting by this time, and so on. When we do this we do not focus a lot on the patient’s and family’s emotions or how they are doing mentally with this hospitalization.
I believe the most important thing I learned in the class is asking the patient and family members what they need or what can I do for you. I thought this was really important because when dealing with a patient that is dying the care that a nurse provides is very individualized. I think a nurse needs to really figure out what the patient or family needs to make the …show more content…
I was assigned to the ICU and one of the patient’s I cared for was on a ventilator because he coded during a CABG. The wife of the patient seemed really upset while the nurse and I were in the room. I ended up asking her “what can I do for you?” As soon as I said that, she started tearing up and began to tell me that this is just hard for her to see her husband like this. She said they have been married for 45 years and have not been separated. She vented how she was doing to me and afterwards thanked me for everything and gave me a hug.
Overall, I believe the most important thing a nurse can do for the patient that is dying and the family is to be present and ask what they need. Nursing is a profession that is consistently around death and advocating for the family. If we treat every patient and family as individuals and communicate consistently with them, we can make the end of life coping