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"A lot of them have been clinging to the doctors
and nurses because of their anxiety," she said.
"If you plug in good emotional support for these
people, they use the medical resources more appropriately."
Faust knows firsthand that medical advancements are
a double-edged sword. Because it is a teaching hospital,
University of Colorado Hospital offers a range of experimental
drugs and protocols, many of which do lead to a longer-though
not always better-life, she said.
"The technology sometimes draws things out, and
sometimes it can be very good," she said. "Other
times it puts a lot of stress on the patient and family."
Even when a patient is in pain and his condition looks
hopeless, he and his family will look to the doctor,
she said. Sometimes hospice care may be the best option,
but people often assume hospice is an option only for
the final, dying days.
"It is better for someone to go on to the service
before they're on their last breath so we can provide
them with the opportunity to experience life,"
said Bonnie Topper, RN, a certified hospice and palliative
care nurse with Hospice of Michigan. "It's not
entering a prison. I have discharged patients who are
doing well."
Although nurses who work with the chronically ill may
see patients discharged, they also battle the stress
of seeing those who don't recuperate. When asked about
the burnout rate on her unit, Segura laughs. The average
seniority at Texas Children's Hospital is two years.
Only three of 20 nurses have worked there longer than
Segura's 10 years.
Nurses who stick it out find solace in support groups,
even if those groups are merely informal chats in a
co-worker's office.
A more organized group therapy worked well for the
nurses at Texas Children's Cancer Center, Segura said.
She remembered one six-month period when the unit averaged
two deaths a month.
"We were at each other's throats," she said.
An assistant director suggested that a psychologist
come to conduct a therapy session with the staff, which
allowed the nurses to cry and show emotions they had
bottled up for months.
Subsequently, the nurses have met with a chaplain every
couple months. Segura said the last session began with
nurses writing out their thoughts about deaths on the
unit and ended with the chaplain blessing their hands
with water and a prayer. Such rituals, she said, have
a healing effect.
Contact Heather World at H_world@yahoo.com
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