Working With Death
It's interesting working with death. I'm living with my sister until I find a place here and she's a Hospice nurse. One day she had to swing by the hospital to tell a patient's family that admitting their father would not be covered by Medicare, and I joked with her that a 'dark cloud of death' followed her into the place. Her name tag includes a subtle mark of death that is masked in pink peace:
Imagine seeing a nurse walk through the hospital corridors, notice that symbol on her scrubs, and watch her fade away behind a closing door. There's only two reasons for her visit: 1) the person behind that door has 6 months left, or 2) the family behind the door just lost their loved one.
Last night my sister was called in to "pronounce" a comatose patient, which is their vernacular for verifying the state of death, and she said something that could only be mistaken as crude to his family. She charged upstairs in a rush to change back into her scrubs and said, "Well at least he died today; tomorrow is Thanksgiving." Now, there's some truth in that statement. How would you remember Christmas if your father died on that day? And, on the flip side, I'd rather enjoy having my sister at our Thanksgiving lunch that visiting someone else's family.
I wonder why my sister chose this job. She's worked at cushier places, like a doctor's office, an ICU, ... but she actually went after Hospice. It's interesting ... especially when her brother is fascinated by death. :)
Imagine seeing a nurse walk through the hospital corridors, notice that symbol on her scrubs, and watch her fade away behind a closing door. There's only two reasons for her visit: 1) the person behind that door has 6 months left, or 2) the family behind the door just lost their loved one.
Last night my sister was called in to "pronounce" a comatose patient, which is their vernacular for verifying the state of death, and she said something that could only be mistaken as crude to his family. She charged upstairs in a rush to change back into her scrubs and said, "Well at least he died today; tomorrow is Thanksgiving." Now, there's some truth in that statement. How would you remember Christmas if your father died on that day? And, on the flip side, I'd rather enjoy having my sister at our Thanksgiving lunch that visiting someone else's family.
I wonder why my sister chose this job. She's worked at cushier places, like a doctor's office, an ICU, ... but she actually went after Hospice. It's interesting ... especially when her brother is fascinated by death. :)