NJM-16 in NoJoMo13

Day 16 – Write about an experience that changed a long held belief you had.

Today's prompt is especially timely, considering the week I had at work.

Before I started nursing school, I believed that the most important thing was to save the life. Just save the life and then worry about the quality of that life afterwards. Then, I witnessed my first death in nursing school. The code was called and the room filled with about 15 people. As a student, I was allowed to stay and observe, but I was put into a corner where I would be out of the way. For an hour and a half, I watched those people try to save that woman's life. They did everything humanly possible, and even a few superhuman things. Finally, I even heard some prayers, all to no avail. I'll save you the long, detailed description of the code and just tell you that there are worse things in this world than dying with dignity once there is no hope of recovery to an acceptable quality of life.

I no longer believe that the most important thing is saving a life. Sure, it's absolutely the most important in most cases. But, every once in awhile, it's more important to just keep someone comfortable, treat them with respect, and allow them to die with dignity, surrounded by their loved ones.