(Times of Israel) Blimi Marcus - Today, I downloaded Vidui, the Jewish deathbed prayer, because we have some patients who may reach that point, and they reach it rapidly and unexpectedly, and family is not allowed to be there, and nurses are stepping in to say the Shema prayer with the patients. Today, I had a conversation with a 60-year-old patient, her son, and their rabbi, to determine end-of-life decisions as she neared intubation. She kept blinking away tears, but nodded at me to continue, saying, "This is important." And today, I comforted and cried with multiple community members as they called me throughout the day as loved ones died, age 39, age 42, age 50. I guided them on how to attend funerals (N95 mask, gloves, and 20 feet away from others). The writer is a nurse practitioner at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
2020-04-01 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive