When Nurses Become Family

Nurses Become Family In Isolating Times

By Shanna Myers, RN, BSN

Clinical Nurse Supervisor Med-Surg

As nurses, we make an impact on the lives of the patients who heal and are then discharged. But with those who are at the end of their lives, we share an extra special bond.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, none of us were prepared for all the changes that were happening as a result. New policies were implemented and changed every other day, it seemed. What none of us foresaw was the patients we would care for through their last moments of life – with families unable to visit.

I worked with ICU nurse, Kim Colston, RN, BSN, who made it her priority to care for a patient who was passing due to complications from COVID-19. Wearing all the required PPE, she shared her time with him in his room. When the patient’s time was imminent, I heard her singing to him. The family expressed their appreciation for the peace that Kim offered to him by inviting her, along with the chaplain, to a time of prayer that afternoon.

Another nurse, Matt Young, RN, brought peace to a patient when she was on hospice – in her last days – during isolating restrictions. Each time he worked in the patient’s room, he made extra time to hold her hand. Despite the demands on his time from other patients and tasks, he took time to be with her when her family could not be.