Caring for a patient who is at the end of their life is a privilege and an honor

Caring for a patient who is at the end of their life is a privilege and an honor to be trusted to care for them. End-of-life care can be very controversial among families, and others can have it planned out to the last detail on how they want to be cared for. While I was in nursing school, I was able to care for a patient who was in the last stages of life. This patient was showing signs and symptoms related to end of life, and the medications that they required to keep them stable were intense. Working with another nurse, I could see how these patients are cared for, from life to post-mortem care. I don’t believe that this was a peaceful death. The patient was very sick, and the family wanted to continue to do everything they could. The patient underwent many procedures and tests, and the quality of life was not there. I believe that the nurse’s and physicians’ knowledge of keeping the patient alive and relating to the physician went well. Caring for a patient and family is a difficult task, especially when they are dying. If the death experience for this patient wasn’t so intense, I believe if the family decided to end life-supporting measures, they could have spent the last few hours with the patient. Coming from personal experience, the death of a family member can be catastrophic to families. Having that last chance to say goodbye can help the grieving process. Everyone is so different when it comes to grieving, so it can be hard to determine what the family needs in this instance of a family member dying.