Time Of Death : 5 : 00pm

This author’s personal perceptions concerning patients facing a lingering terminal illness, have been shaped by over 20 years of critical care nursing experience. Facing death and illness on a daily basis requires self-examination and a high degree of comfort with one’s own mortality, limits and values. Constant exposure to the fragility of life forces respect for the whole person and the people who love them. A general approach to patients who are actively dying is to allow them to define what they want and need during this time. The nurse’s role

Over the last few weeks, I have had the opportunity to experience some of the best and most difficult times of being a medical assistant. I have had hands on experience with patients of all different ages, races, religions, and personalities. These last few weeks have not only taught me patience, acceptance and boundaries of others, but I was able to learn more about myself as well. My externship experience has opened my eyes to the realities of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, physically and mentally, as well as the importance of family and friends. DePaul Medical Center and In Faith Psychological Services were the best locations I could have chosen for my first look into the life of a medical assistant.

Vivian Bearing did not show a lot of kindness or compassion to her own students as she did not think that it was important. Now as her death is approaching she comes to realize that is what she has been missing. Her nurse Susie patiently explains the treatment plan to Vivian in terms that she can understand; including the DNR (do not resuscitate) and that it was her decision, Susie allowed Vivian some control over her life by giving her this choice while she fought for her dignity. As her nurse strives to provide her with compassion and empathy this is important to Vivian in her final days as compassion is connected to our human spirit; as she was approaching death (Frost, 1999, p127). Patients often experience quicker healing rates when they receive compassion as opposed to those who do not (Dossey, 2007). Susie told Vivian when she was semi conscious that they were putting a catheter in; even though Doctor Jason said :why are you bothering?” Some people, such as nurse Susie, will go out of their way to make others comfortable and put the patients need before there own, we just have to be mindful of emotional burnout if our own needs are not being met (Brehony, 1999, p

Caring for patients at the end of life is a challenging task that requires not only the consideration of the individual as a whole but also an understanding of the

Giving end of life care to my terminally ill mother has ignited a passion in me to read Medicine and make a real difference to people's lives. Caring for her whilst she was bedridden gave me an invaluable insight into the care of the critically ill. Dealing with death is a crucial part of a doctor's job and I feel that the past year has made me much more aware, sensitive and prepared me to deal with this aspect of the job. I am undergoing an induction for my job as Clinical Support Worker. This will allow me to gain familiarity within the clinical environment. Through work experience which I organised at a GP Surgery and Bedford Hospital, I have gained an insight into life as a doctor; I saw the importance of the surgeon having a high leg excision of a

You’d never think growing up a very sick dad and worried mom would have a made such a positive impact on my life. But in my case, it is the main reason why I have chosen to become a physician’s assistant (PA). In the beginning stages, I was too young to really understand the importance of the doctors and medical staff that worked countless hours to make this medical miracle happen, but as time went on, I began to comprehend the role of the people who were trying to save my dad’s life so he could watch his girls grow up. Seeing a multidisciplinary team of physicians, social workers, and dieticians work so well together to solve a problem made a lasting impression on me. I watched as they spent countless hours analyzing the numbers and evaluating my dad’s physical condition to solve the problem. Working so tirelessly showed how passionate and dedicated the team was. I can 't accredit a single person in that group of medical specialists that inspired me to be to become a physician assistant because each and every one of them played a tremendous role in my journey. I desire to become a PA so that

As most kids grow up, their dream job changes all the time. One week they want to fly to the moon as an astronaut while the next week they want to rule the world as president. However, I’ve always wanted to help people by being a doctor. I would sit in front of the television mesmerized for hours by various trauma shows. I preformed surgery on my stuffed animals and diagnosed my friends and family with different fake illnesses. As I continued to grow up, I realized there is many types of jobs in the medical field that preform a variety of different services. After researching the different options, I fell in love with the idea of being a physician assistant (PA). A PA, supervised by a doctor, has the freedom to interpret tests, record progress, and diagnose patients. In order to become a PA, it takes a lot of schooling, but it is a rewarding job that I would be very good at. Ten years from now, I will be a great physician assistant due to the characteristics I already posses and the education that I will be receiving in the future.

Dressed in a white bath robe I leaned over to my little sister, Elly, with a toy stethoscope and began her physical. After observing Elly’s heart rate, reflexes, and vision I diagnosed her with the common cold and instructed her to stay in bed and eat chicken noodle soup. Playing doctor as a child was the beginning of my interest in medicine. As a teenager, attending doctor appointments cultivated my curiosity for the medical profession and convinced me to get my nursing assistant certification after high school. Working as a CNA developed my interest into a passion for medicine. I didn’t immediately know I wanted to be a physician assistant while playing doctor with Elly, or even after I became certified as a nursing assistant, but after realizing a PA’s work is like solving a puzzle I decided to pursue a Masters in Physician Assistant studies.

As people approach the end of their lives, they with their families and their caregivers, face many tasks and decisions. They may be psychological, spiritual, or medical in nature, but all end-of-life choices and medical decisions have complex psychological components, ramifications, and consequences that have a significant impact on the suffering patients and their caregivers.

My daughter was alive and well last week, and we watched her deteriorate in a hospital bed. Near the end, they were strapping her down and she was screaming and yowling as we tried to put her on an IV. It was horrific.”

Many nurses are regularly confronted with the hopelessness and exhaustion of patients and their families making it difficult for them to find balance between the preservation of life and the enablement of a dignified death. Nurses must acknowledge their own feelings of sorrow, fear, dismay and helplessness and recognize the impact of these emotions in clinical decision making. These distressing pressures may cause a nurse to contemplate intentionally assist in ending a patient's life as a humane and compassionate answer, however; the conventional goals and standards of the nursing profession mitigate against it.

When my mom delivered me, the doctor turned me around to see a large mass on my spine. I was born with Spina Bifida. I was intubated at birth because I had to get an operation to get the mass removed. I spent fifteen days in the NICU. Every year I had to go to doctor appointments at the hospital. The hospital was a comfort zone for me as weird as that sounds. I found them fascinating, because I knew even as a girl that someone’s life was being saved somewhere in the hospital. My brother had many asthma attacks and my dad had bronchitis, so respiratory problems occur in my family. After watching them suffer with these conditions I realized that we take a breath for granted everyday. A breath is the difference between life and death.

A nurse's or caregiver's own perception will certainly affect the care she will provide to a dying patient. She needs to accept that death is a certainty and, therefore, unavoidable. But the kind or manner of death one will go through is not certain and can thus be controlled (Hess, 2009). Statistics say that at least half of all American adults die a bad death. A bad death is characterized by needless suffering, some form of dishonor, a lack of decency and treatments, which are senseless, unwanted and costly. Moreover, other issues swarm the situation of the dying patient. If the nurse approaches the patient and his condition with a realistic but positive perception about the quality of life and health, she will definitely contribute much to his achieving a good death. A good death is achieved when it is devoid of all avoidable suffering and hurt for the patient, his family and his caregivers. It occurs according to his wishes and his family's. And it transpires according to clinical, cultural and ethical norms (Hess).

Half awake, I could still hear the loud agonizing cries. I grabbed my mini stethoscope and hurried downstairs to observe an impressive array of tasks to save lives. Though, I was a child, it was not the first time I had seen a critical patient with a busy medical crew around. I grew up in a hospital where both my parents worked full-time. Gradually I started imbibing the quintessential values of a medical career to the point when helping others was no longer an act, but a way of living life. This is why I believe, medicine has not just been my career choice but a personal journey of self-discovery and human revelation.

Learning human body functioning and applying knowledge to save human lives were phenomenal experience. What else one can wish for other than saving lives and bringing smiles back on the faces of countless patients, patients’ families and friends? Working as a team and putting more than best to save each and every life made me realized