RN Shift Report

(Any names or circumstances in my RN Shift Report are changed. Stories are a conglomeration of many people's experiences observed over the 30 years of my nursing practice.)

At the Cancer Center where I work we often receive flowers from the funeral when a patient of ours dies. It is the families way of thanking us for the care we gave their loved one before he or she died. Usually there is included with the flowers a bulletin from the funeral or memorial service. As I read these I often get a whole new perspective of the person that has recently died. Sometimes I've known them and a few members of their families for several years. I became close to some as we went through the highs and lows of their cancer treatment together. Still, sometimes it seems when I read the funeral bulletin or obituary I feel like I didn't know the person at all. I may never have seen them look like they do in the photos, with the glow of health and free from pain. I didn't know them at a time when they were care-free, without the diagnosis of cancer following them around like a pesky fly. It's fun to learn that a person had a life outside of weekly appointments, lab work, x-ray tests and chemo treatments. While I like discovering they were a rodeo clown, or collected classic cars, made beautiful quilts, enjoyed square dancing, had a passion for stray animals, lived overseas, played pool with buddies every Saturday for over 50 years, I find myself feeling disappointed that I didn't know these details about my patients before they died. Everyone has a story. I think I'll start using the flowers we receive as a reminder to take the time to ask more questions, to listen closer, to give my patients the gift of being known as a person with a full life story and not just as a cancer patient.