"Being with" a patient who is dying. 1995

P Smith-Regojo

Doubting her ability to assume the new manager's role in a specialty unit, the author reflects upon her first day of hospital orientation. The monotony of the day is interrupted by the admission of a patient with a traumatic burn injury. The new manager finds herself perplexed about what to do. Feeling at a loss and somewhat confused about her role as a nurse and manager, she delves into her soul and realizes that her place on the burn team has nothing to do with the type of emergency situation before her. Suddenly, she identifies that her feelings of fear and uncertainty are also experienced by people in their new role as patients. She recognizes that her place stems from the very essence of being a nurse. She wants to care. Basing her actions on her feelings, the nurse is able to comfort a man who is dying. She does not want him to feel lonely and afraid regardless of his imminent death. Clinically, she knows the team's life-saving efforts will be unsuccessful, yet her efforts in caring based on her lived experience of being the "newcomer" enable her to accept the challenge of meeting the needs of her patient and at the same time regain her confidence.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D009723 Nurse-Patient Relations Interaction between the patient and nurse. Nurse Patient Relations,Nurse Patient Relationship,Nurse Patient Relationships,Nurse-Patient Relation,Patient Relations, Nurse,Patient Relationship, Nurse,Patient Relationships, Nurse,Relations, Nurse Patient,Relations, Nurse-Patient,Relationship, Nurse Patient,Relationships, Nurse Patient
D009745 Nursing, Supervisory Administration of nursing services for one or more clinical units. Charge Nurses,Head Nurses,Nurses, Head,Supervisory Nursing,Charge Nurse,Head Nurse,Nurse, Charge,Nurse, Head,Nurses, Charge
D002056 Burns Injuries to tissues caused by contact with heat, steam, chemicals (BURNS, CHEMICAL), electricity (BURNS, ELECTRIC), or the like. Burn
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012380 Role The expected and characteristic pattern of behavior exhibited by an individual as a member of a particular social group. Role Concept,Concept, Role,Concepts, Role,Role Concepts,Roles
D013727 Terminal Care Medical and nursing care of patients in the terminal stage of an illness. End-Of-Life Care,End of Life Care,Care, End-Of-Life,Care, Terminal,End-Of-Life Cares

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