As charge nurse on the evening shift, I have gotten to work closely with Gregory and gotten to know him more over the past few months. He has always impressed me with his positive attitude, outstanding work ethic, and excellence in nursing. A few weeks ago, he brought me to tears with his compassion. There was a patient on our floor whose body was riddled with cancer. One night, his condition suddenly became worse and he was rushed off to the ICU with Gregory at this side as the nurse who had been taking care of him. A few days later he was transferred back to our floor with the decision to no longer fight a losing battle with cancer, but to transition to end of life care. The cancer was eating him from the inside out and the understanding was that if he started to bleed out, we would do nothing to stop it except to make him comfortable. It was only a matter of time. Having a few days off, Gregory told the nurses that if anything happened to call him and he would come and hold his hand as he deteriorated. Several days passed without anything happening. The patient was set to discharge on hospice the next day. As a little after 10 pm on a Saturday, the patient's brother came out of his room and up to the desk. He was bleeding. I went to tell his nurse and Gregory overheard. He dropped what he was doing and went straight into the patient's room, sat down, and grabbed his hand. The patient looked at him and said, "We're not going to stop it this time." Gregory responded, "No, and I am here". He sat, and he held his hand as the patient bled. We covered his legs so he and his brother couldn't see. I slipped out of the room for a minute, maybe less, and by the time I returned the patient was already non-responsive and agonal breathing. I watched as Gregory held his hand, administered Morphine to make him comfortable, and reassured him it was okay and he was not alone. Very quickly, he was gone.
I cannot think of anything more extraordinary than sitting with a person as they experience death; holding them and comforting them in their final moments of life. Gregory is an exceptional nurse who did something incredibly selfless and compassionate. Moments like this, though tragic and difficult, are why I continue to work on this unit. The beauty in travesty, the love in times of pain, the joy in sorrow. I am so incredibly proud of this nurse and the nurse he has become, and especially to call him my coworker and friend.