When Kelly walked into the dying man’s room, she was surprised. She had visited him the day before and he seemed fine. His condition had deteriorated rapidly overnight. He was suffering from lung cancer, one of the most hideous illnesses that Kelly had ever seen. Not only did it’s victims patients die in pain, but like this man, they would drown in their own fluids...a frightening way to go indeed.
As Kelly looked down at her patient, she felt totally helpless. He looked up at her and said, “If you can’t make this stop, at least do something to make me feel better.”
The nurse went to the nurses station and grabbed the man’s chart. She quickly flipped to the lab results to get the results from the labs that she had ordered the day before. She glanced through all of the results until she found the one she was looking for, the arterial blood gas report. Her face seemed to lose the blood in it as she read the results of the test. The man, Mr. Dillon, was not going to survive much longer. Kelly called the doctor and reported to him what she had found. The doctor asked her what she wanted to do, there really wasn’t much to be done except for trying to make Mr. Dillon comfortable. Dr. Demorest ordered 2 mgs. of morphine to be pushed IV. Kelly saw that all of the staff nurses were busy passing their morning medications and she knew that none of them would have the chance to give Mr. Dillon any morphine any time soon. She decided to do it herself.
She went to the medication room and grabbed the morphine and a syringe and headed to Mr. Dillon’s room. She sat down on the bed next to him and pushed the morphine into his veins. Nothing happened. She went back and called Dr. Demorest again. He gave her an order for another 2 mgs. of morphine. When she gave that to Mr. Dillon, he was still in agony. She tried suctioning his lungs but she couldn’t seem to keep up with the rapid production of the murderous fluid.
After a few more phone calls to the doctor, Kelly finally heard the order that she wanted to hear, but dreaded.
“Kelly, just give him whatever it takes. That meant that Kelly should just give the man all of the morphine that she needed to in order to ease his suffering and then she was to calculate how much morphine she had given him and write the order for exactly that amount. It wasn’t a legal order, but it was the order that was necessary to help Mr. Dillon. So, she filled the syringe with morphine and went back to the room, pushing 2 mgs. every few minutes and waiting to see if it would help. Finally, after about 16 mgs. of morphine, she saw something she hadn’t seen all morning. A smile on the face of her dying patient.
“What are you smiling at?, Kelly asked her patient.
Mr. Dillon smiled as he answered her. “On my 28th birthday, my wife left me. I prayed to God that day saying, I don’t care what you do to me, just let me die with a redhead in my bed.”
Kelly smiled, her red hair glistening in the sun that flooded into the room. “Go for it.“ she told Mr. Dillon.
Mr. Dillon did just that, passing away at 11:38 am on April 28th. Kelly was proud to be the redhead in Mr. Dillon’s bed that day, even if it wasn’t quite what he had expected when he prayed to his God on his 28th birthday.
When people heard that Kelly worked with geriatric patients, they always said the same thing, “Why would you ever want to work with old people?”
Kelly always answered them the same way, “You just have no idea how rewarding it is.”
As Kelly looked down at her patient, she felt totally helpless. He looked up at her and said, “If you can’t make this stop, at least do something to make me feel better.”
The nurse went to the nurses station and grabbed the man’s chart. She quickly flipped to the lab results to get the results from the labs that she had ordered the day before. She glanced through all of the results until she found the one she was looking for, the arterial blood gas report. Her face seemed to lose the blood in it as she read the results of the test. The man, Mr. Dillon, was not going to survive much longer. Kelly called the doctor and reported to him what she had found. The doctor asked her what she wanted to do, there really wasn’t much to be done except for trying to make Mr. Dillon comfortable. Dr. Demorest ordered 2 mgs. of morphine to be pushed IV. Kelly saw that all of the staff nurses were busy passing their morning medications and she knew that none of them would have the chance to give Mr. Dillon any morphine any time soon. She decided to do it herself.
She went to the medication room and grabbed the morphine and a syringe and headed to Mr. Dillon’s room. She sat down on the bed next to him and pushed the morphine into his veins. Nothing happened. She went back and called Dr. Demorest again. He gave her an order for another 2 mgs. of morphine. When she gave that to Mr. Dillon, he was still in agony. She tried suctioning his lungs but she couldn’t seem to keep up with the rapid production of the murderous fluid.
After a few more phone calls to the doctor, Kelly finally heard the order that she wanted to hear, but dreaded.
“Kelly, just give him whatever it takes. That meant that Kelly should just give the man all of the morphine that she needed to in order to ease his suffering and then she was to calculate how much morphine she had given him and write the order for exactly that amount. It wasn’t a legal order, but it was the order that was necessary to help Mr. Dillon. So, she filled the syringe with morphine and went back to the room, pushing 2 mgs. every few minutes and waiting to see if it would help. Finally, after about 16 mgs. of morphine, she saw something she hadn’t seen all morning. A smile on the face of her dying patient.
“What are you smiling at?, Kelly asked her patient.
Mr. Dillon smiled as he answered her. “On my 28th birthday, my wife left me. I prayed to God that day saying, I don’t care what you do to me, just let me die with a redhead in my bed.”
Kelly smiled, her red hair glistening in the sun that flooded into the room. “Go for it.“ she told Mr. Dillon.
Mr. Dillon did just that, passing away at 11:38 am on April 28th. Kelly was proud to be the redhead in Mr. Dillon’s bed that day, even if it wasn’t quite what he had expected when he prayed to his God on his 28th birthday.
When people heard that Kelly worked with geriatric patients, they always said the same thing, “Why would you ever want to work with old people?”
Kelly always answered them the same way, “You just have no idea how rewarding it is.”
posted by Meg Kelso | 8:31 PM
1 Comments:
Great blog, LOLOLOL. That email was written before I had a real post, all it said was...Testing.
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