concerned that the whole situation was her fault , and I told her that she could only control so much and that we would be here to do what we could for her , her family , and her husband .
At this point , I realized that in the hospital you are not just taking care of the patient , you are taking care of their family too . Although the patient was put on comfort care and given fentanyl to decrease pain , I do believe his vitals were more stable ( which the nurses were very surprised by ) because I had calmed his wife down . She said that when she would get anxious , so would he , and I believe that unconsciously he felt her stress . I apologized to my preceptor for being in the room so long and she said … “ don ’ t apologize , you are a good egg , she needed someone to talk to and you saw that .” I felt like I finally could picture the nurse I wanted to be , and this situation gave me the image of a nurse . I did not have to be a nurse from a medical perspective to define nursing , I just had to be human .
I had the opportunity to have this family again for a third day in a row . I felt that I finally was able to build a professional relationship with this family and tried to provide as much support as I could . I never felt more like a nurse until I took care of this family . I laughed with them , I cried with them and for them , and I went through the three days of watching and waiting with them .
Unfortunately , my patient passed a week later , and it is situations like these that you wish you had some control over , but you just do not . The last day that I had this family , the patient ’ s wife hugged me and thanked me for spending my time with her family and taking care of her husband . She wished me all the best in my future career . The days following that I was there , they were still there , but I was not assigned to take care of them so I made sure to checkin with them as often as I could . In all honesty , it broke me when the patient ’ s name was not on the monitor anymore .
Ultimately , I got to see the good , the bad , and the ugly of nursing . In the end , even though it is a rollercoaster of an experience , it was the experience of a lifetime that explored humanity at its best and at its worst . That is an unforgettable image of what I not only call my life ’ s purpose , but what I call the true profession of nursing .
Bio
Victoria LoGiudice is a nursing student at Molloy University , Rockville Centre , NY . She is the STAT Editor for the Nurses Students Association of New York State . She also serves as Co-President of the Molloy Nursing Student Association .
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