I was working in my department with my co-workers and they were doing a very good job as always, but Gabby had the heaviest assignment on this particular day. She had a patient who needed a blood transfusion, a septic patient with low BP, a confused patient who was trying to get out of bed and a patient who was actively dying. Not to mention 2 RRTs on the septic patient. Gabby was getting phone calls from doctors and families and was running around to different rooms to take care of her patients. So far, it sounds like a typical day for a nurse, but what happened next had me in tears.
The monitor tech called to tell Gabby that her patient's heart rate was dropping. When I asked Gabby to check on the patient, she dropped everything. She went to the room knowing what was going on. She stayed in the room holding the patient's hand. I heard her talking to the patient, telling him that she just talked to his wife and she said that she loved him very much and thanked him for all the good memories. She told the patient that it was okay to move on, that he was going to a better place; that his wife has to take care of things, but when the time comes she will join him. She continued to talk to him until he passed on peacefully, then she came out of the room crying. She collected herself and then continued with her shift, caring for the rest of her assigned patients.
It was beautiful because Gabby took the time to make sure her patient was comfortable and not alone. This doesn't happen with every death. Thank you Gabby for all you give to your patients - every patient deserves dignity and respect and you provide it so compassionately and selflessly.