Being a Nurse...

 

For the past four years of my life, I have taken care of people as a Licensed Nursing Assistant and nursing student.  I have quieted freshly born babies and held the hands of countless dying people.  I have hugged and cried with cancer patients, consoled families, cleaned wounds, and bandaged scraped knees of school children.  I hang IV bags, set up EKGs, give shots, and provide the emotional support that people need to make it through their difficulties.  I solve problems and am the eyes and ears of the doctors.  I catch problems before they start and speak up for my patients when they cannot.  I stood at a man's head throughout his open-heart surgery and looked down into his open chest for 9 hours.  I teach elderly yoga classes and I have sang karaoke with mental hospital residents.  I've gone on countless walks and wheel-chair rides with elderly people looking for companionship.  I have been blessed enough to care for innumerable incredible people.

Being a nurse is an incredible thing.

Because we truly touch people's lives.
 

You may have heard me mention my "clinicals" from time to time... For those of you who don't know, "clinical" is basically an internship for nursing students.  During my nursing education, I had clinicals in the hospital orthopedics and cardiac floors, as a school nurse, in the state mental hospital, and in labor & delivery.  While attending school, I also worked as a Licensed Nursing Assistant in nursing homes, the hospital neurology unit, and at my favorite place in the world: Vermont Respite House. 

As a graduating nursing student, we get to pick a location for our final clinical.  Naturally, I chose Vermont Respite House.

What exactly is Vermont Respite House?  It is a home for those who are nearing the end of their lives and cannot be cared for at home any longer.  While that may sound depressing, it is truly one of the happiest places I have ever had the pleasure of being.  There is an incredible, attentive staff and a massive team of volunteers that work together to bring joy and life into this wonderful place.  Each patient is recognized as a unique individual, and they become members of the Vermont Respite House family during their stay with us.  Their families also become part of the family.  It is a place of openness, warmth, gratitude, learning, and loving. 

People are often nervous when visiting the hospice for their first time.  I know that I was!  These fears are erased the moment you walk through the door.  Nobody wears scrubs, and it smells like baked goods (no hospital smell!)... there are no beeping machines, no lab coats, no hospital food or cold stethoscopes.  Instead, there is a huge living room with a beautiful Noah's ark mural, the walls decorated with animals.  A ceiling-length brick fireplace occupies the center of the living room, and just around it is a kitchen.  Often bustling with volunteers, the kitchen smells delicious and there is a bar of home-baked goodies waiting to be eaten.  Music fills the air, either by CD player or from the living room piano.  Patients bring their dogs, cats, and birds, and staff or volunteers may bring a quiet dog in as well.  Fresh flowers are bundled on top of almost every surface available.  In the spring, gardens bloom an array of colors and bunnies hop around outside.  Bird feeders are outside of every patient room and we have quite the population of feathered friends... patients love to get visits at their windows from their singing neighbors!  

As I have described, Vermont Respite House is a truly beautiful place.  Patients are encouraged to find fulfillment as their chapter on Earth comes to a close.  Death is not treated as something taboo or frightening, but rather as a natural part of life.  It is accepted and prepared for.  Hospice nurses are able to expertly manage pain and symptoms while allowing the patient to have the highest quality of life possible.  The goal of hospice is not to lengthen or shorten life, but rather to allow one to live life to its fullest.  It has actually been statistically proven that people receiving hospice care live an average of three months longer than those who undergo extensive medical treatment until the end of their life.

This is a difficult subject for many people to consider, yet we all must face it one day for ourselves or our loved ones.  Don't forget about the hospice option.  We know how to help people live their life to the fullest.