Tuesday, March 27, 2007
On death and sprinkles
There's something called "courtesy cart" at the hospital I work in. Whenever someone's determined to be dying and not to be resuscitated (terminally ill, hospice patients that opted for hopefully more peaceful, dignified end), a cart appears outside their room, draped in white linen and stocked with coffee, muffins and cookies..for the family and visitors of that patient. As sweet as this gesture is, its eery to see this "messenger" pop up in a hallway. Something rather cynical about it. Hey, we know your mom's dying, have a muffin, on us. I don't know..We're sitting at the station charting, cracking jokes, and its right there, this death tray, with its almost celebratory birthday buffet feel, Mylar balloons missing. That's just crazy.
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1 comment:
you know i hate crap like that-
BUT that said, maybe it's our squeamishness with death that makes the harbingers of it so difficult to manage
i used to work for a hospital, my crappy office was right next to a patient's room- i heard yelling, moaning and i didn't like it
but it's a hospital, that's what i was there for to serve those folks in my capacity
i don't know how we appropriately handle death, we can't- it's out of our control - yes, i am too deep ;)
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