June 2015
Vanessa
Beck
Drexel University
Philadelphia
,
PA
United States
During the geriatric rotation we had the pleasure of doing our clinical time at Chandler Hall, a Quaker facility. There is an in-patient hospice area that we were able to do time on. Tiffany was caring for a young woman about 49 who had metastatic cancer. She had been a nurse herself for over twenty years and in her prime she was a fun loving and dynamic woman who loved music all types. Her room was decorated with photos of her through out her life with family and friends loving life. Tiffany and Vanessa gave her AM care and were talking with her about nursing school. They got her breakfast and moved on to the next patient. When they went back to check on her she was extremely short of breath and had a drastic change in her condition. Both Tiffany and Vanessa notified both her nurse as well as myself. We medicated her for pain and she asked the girls to sit with her. The each took a seat on either side of her bed and they put her favorite song ?Lean on Me? on their phone. They played it a few times for her and she really calmed down. They then switched the station to Motown (her favorite music) they found this out by asking the staff. I was not aware that they had stayed in there to comfort her as I had moved on to give meds with other students. When I got back to the hospice unit and went to check on them they were sitting with her stroking her head and hand singing to the music. I had asked if her family had been called as it was obvious that she was actively dying. They then shared with me that her husband was over an hour away and that his car had broken down and was now in a cab trying to get to her. Both Tiffany and Vanessa sat with her keeping her as comfortable as possible whiling singing her favorite songs and telling her that it was OK to go. I can?t describe the joy and pride that filled my soul when I walked into the room. Seeing these two students at this patients side comforting her, trying to provide her the comforts that she loved while waiting for her husband was touching. The vision showed me what true compassion looks like, what nursing should be and what I try to teach the students each and every semester. I am proud to say that I am a nurse as well as their instructor. I would let them care for me or any of my family members without hesitation.