The patient arrived on the floor on Tuesday and the family complained that they had no information on the patient. RN Greysi Hernandez received the patient and called the family on the unit iPad. I contacted the family towards the end of shift and they expressed how happy they were because they had seen their father/grandfather via the iPad with the nurse. I gave the family an update on what the patient's condition was. Greysi continued with the patient the following day and although she was unable to FaceTime with the family, she did give numerous updates throughout the shift. On Thursday morning, it was noted that the patient's HR began to drop. Greysi, myself, and another nurse went to the room and stayed with the patient as his heart rate dropped and he passed. The patient was a DNR/DNI. RN Greysi contacted the doctor and was there when the doctor called the family. Later that morning, myself and Greysi called the family from the office. We shared the final moments of the patient and that he died peacefully in his sleep and did not suffer and did not die gasping for breath. The family was extremely thankful that we had taken the time to share that information with them. That was what they were worried about - that he had suffered or died alone. We assured them that he was surrounded by us and he had one of us holding his hand as he passed.
This was the second time in a short time period that I was involved in this type of situation. I just wanted to share this with you because it is really important that we take that time to reassure families that their loved ones are not dying alone. That we are with them when they can't be. It takes just a few minutes to make a sad situation, a little easier to deal with. Especially the COVID patients, these families never get to see their loved ones again because they go straight from the hospital to the crematorium. We should really make this a priority with our patients.
Thank you Greysi for all that you do.