Bereavement and the fallout for nurses

摘要

Recently one of my younger colleagues described me as 'old and wise'. I don't feel either old or wise, but, one of the advantages of ageing is that you see nursing from both sides; a profession perspective and the personal perspective of a friend and relative. I have had rather a lot of the personal perspective in the last year. I have stood at the bedsides of those loved and said my final goodbyes to three dear friends through a veil of tears. When we love people its only human to want staff to do everything they can. But there is only so much that can be done. One of the lessons we learn as we mature is that not every problem can be solved. There are times when we have to accept the inevitable that our loved ones are mortal, but it can be so terribly hard to accept. Our heart wants the person to recover but our head tells us that this is not to be. It is always too soon and we always want just a little more time.