 Hi guys, so I wanted to talk about dealing with death in nursing and This is kind of an impromptu Topic an impromptu video because I used to keep a list of like videos I want to do and this one wasn't on my list. I just like randomly thought of it So this may be kind of back and forth, but let's just kind of see what words come out of my mouth And what populates in my little brain? So Dealing with death is something that Most nursing fields have to deal with It doesn't matter if you're an OB nurse or a med surgeon or an ICU nurse, ER nurse In some point in your career, especially if you're in the hospital setting you are probably going to have to deal with death Some fields will see it more than others. For example in the ICU We deal with death quite frequently and you know when 90% of your patients are like knocking on death's door And you're trying to prevent them from going to the other side. You're like, oh, don't go towards the light You deal with death a lot and it can be emotionally taxing if you Aren't prepared to deal with it or don't know how to deal with it for me personally. I had never Had one of my patients pass away until I started working in the ICU And then I worked in the ICU and literally like my first three weeks I had like three or four people pass away And I don't I know I'm laughing and it's not really funny, but it is kind of funny Because you just you just don't deal with it as much in other fields and a med surgery. I didn't So dealing with death can be a very do you mind she just seriously just won't stop licking my arm Stop licking my arm, please So dealing with death can be a really emotional thing if you're not prepared and for me personally one of the best ways to Not let the sadness of death Come upon me, I guess is to just Maintain a positive outlook and don't like submerge myself so much in that situation. Stop it No more don't lick me of course you want to be there for your patients and their families and You know be with them in that like ending moment in that ending time But at the same time you have to still be realistic with yourselves like you're there to help them And if you let yourself get too involved emotionally that can actually sometimes be un-beneficial for your patients and their families so You really have to learn how to separate yourself and there's no like magic rule or recipe for that You just have to learn over time how to form those boundaries Another thing I like to do is I like to just keep a good sense of humor and obviously like there's a right time and place for that But keeping a good sense of humor. I have great co-workers We joke around with each other and that's something that helps me as well but also making sure you have time to kind of process the fact that you have a patient that's dead or Dying because you don't want to just push it aside push it aside push it aside And then you go home and then you start bawling your eyes out because you're like oh my gosh I was so sad. That's so terrible So you really need to Process it and think about it and then be like okay. That's done with on to my next patient And truly that's sometimes how it is you have a patient that dies in the second they go to the morgue They're like oh new admin someone else and That's just kind of how it is and you just learn to deal with it And there's you just have to remind yourself that in nursing. There's so much good There's so much good that we do we help so many people But you're not gonna help everyone and sometimes it's really good when people die And I know that sounds terrible to some of you, but it's good Sometimes people are suffering for so long and then finally when they die they look peaceful and you're like, you know It feels so like I'm happy for them. I know it sounds bad But as a nurse you feel like you've ended someone's suffering and not that you personally ended their suffering But you enhanced their comfort in those last moments and as a side note We get palliative care patients every once in a while and I see you or maybe a patient who is just like on the edge of Dying decides to go the family decides to make them comfort care And so occasionally as a nurse will have like Comfort care patients and I really like taking care of comfort care patients because it's like nursing at its most Raw form we do all of this like interventional stuff and medicine and all of these like Technologies things and stuff and then when someone wants to just be comfortable It's like nursing at its most raw form because you are just there Solely to make that person comfortable make sure they don't have pain or anxiety that they're not suffering that they're comfortable in the position They're at that they feel clean that they just they feel Comfortable in their last moments of their life in that I love that I really do and I never thought I would I never I don't think I could Do hospice like full-time, but I never thought that I would really enjoy having palliative care patients because It truly is like it's the most beautiful part of nursing It's what us nurses like go into nursing for is to they be that comforting person to someone whether they're dying or whether They're trying to live Anyways, so that was a little rant, but I hope you guys enjoy this video Make sure you give this video a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel, and I will see you guys next time. Bye