One midnight Donna was sitting three desks away from a declining patient and grieving family. The primary nurse obtained an order for "comfort care" for this patient to allow him to pass in a dignified way, free of pain, and comfortable. The family was on board with this decision; however, the dilemma was that this patient was passing quite rapidly. The family was concerned that their loved one was going to pass without having a priest provide the last rites. The family was frantically calling different Catholic churches, and doing their due diligence. The primary nurse informed me of the situation, and Donna overheard this conversation. After following all the proper channels and leaving numerous voice mails for different chaplains and churches in the area we felt defeated, since it was the middle of the night on a Saturday.
In the meantime Donna was compelled and felt extreme empathy towards this family. She decided to look up how to provide the "last rights" to a dying patient on the internet. She stated: "If it is ok with you and the family, I can provide the last rites to the patient, since the patient is passing quickly, and I know how important it is to have somebody pray for the patient." The family was extremely touched that another nurse would want to do that for their loved one. They stated "Wow, nurses do have huge hearts, and they also have many caps." Donna was looking up the proper way to provide the last rites and getting ready to perform them, when a manager called to let us know that she had found a priest to come and provide the last rites. In a matter of 15 minutes not only did we have one priest, we had two priests come in and provide the last rites to this patient. The patient expired peacefully ten minutes after the priests left.
The family was extremely content that their loved one had the opportunity to pray with two priests, and they were extremely moved that one nurse (not even related to this patient's care) was willing to pray with their loved one.