Andy Raghunandan sees the humanity of all the patients he cares for. Sometime in April this year, Andy took care of a gentleman who was in his late 80's. He had an admitting diagnosis of pneumonia, with a history of end stage cancer. This gentleman does not have much longer to live. There were family meetings for Palliative/In Patient hospice, but despite the family and patient agreeing to have him placed on In-patient hospice, it was very hard for this particular patient to let go and say his goodbyes.
The family struggled to say goodbye because dad did not want to go. The patient was suffering, he had difficulty breathing and was in a lot of pain yet despite his diagnosis and suffering, he refused some treatment, and the Morphine drip remained unhung. Andy knew he needed to do something. He offered pastoral care, which came but somehow, Andy felt, something still remained unsaid. Andy spoke to the family and said he will talk to the patient man-to-man and the family agreed, feeling that they have exhausted all their means and wanted their father to let go and let death come as it should so that he will not suffer anymore.
Andy took a few moments to talk about life in general and had the patient tell him stories of his job, his family, his struggles, his successes…..and became comfortable with Andy. Andy being a father himself, they somehow connected. So this patient started opening up. He stated "I always was the tough one, the man of the house, the guy who can do it all….and then this….how will my family be? If I start with the Morphine, how can I say my goodbyes?"
Andy understood why his patient was struggling. He educated him what the Morphine does, its mechanism of action, why it was being ordered and how he can facilitate his goodbyes without being completely out of cognition. Andy spoke to the family and arranged for this patient to be in a room big enough to accommodate his family. They had a little going away party of some sort for their dad with balloons, and patient said his goodbyes in his tough and loving way. He agreed to have the Morphine drip started and he comfortably passed away two days later with his favorite happy music playing and his family at his bedside.
Andy with his down-to-earth approach to reality took the time to intervene where everyone else was unable to, he did not stop until he felt this patient was ready to let go of his unfinished business.
We later on found out that this patient, when he was saying goodbye to his family, had foundation personnel come up; and he donated funds for the hospital when he passed because Andy took the time to listen. The Foundation staff notified Andy of this and he just shrugged his shoulders, thanked the lady for helping his patient and said he was just doing his job.
Andy truly is a compassionate nurse; we are very honored and thankful to work with him. We are so fortunate to have him on our team.