This quote is the foundation of my life as a hospice nurse. The simplest acts......holding a hand, washing a face, administering pain meds....are what bring comfort to the patients I care for. I am learning that nursing is in all the small details, the everyday things that add up in the last moment of someone's life. As a new nurse you are eager to go out there and make a difference. You think that all of the glory and recognition for the work that you do is in those big moments like performing CPR or assisting with surgery. What I am learning is that the difference you make is wrapped in all of the every day things....having a conversation with a patient, making a phone call to the daughter of your patient because they live far away, teaching a son how to safely transfer their mom from wheelchair to bed everyday, ....just being there to listen.
This is the toughest, most amazing, meaningful and heartbreaking job I have ever done. I have learned that it is okay to cry with your families, that those closest to death have so much to teach us about life. Patients have taught me to tell your family that you love them, and often, to let the little things go because they don't matter in the end. They have taught me that simple acts filled with love and caring are the ones that change the world.
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