[Answered]: Mrs

Mrs. Quinn, a person I cared for before in my ICU days, has never left my heart. She was a 30-year-old woman hospitalized in a step-down unit. Immediately, I pegged her for an easy admit and discharge. The other nurses avoided her room, and I figured it was because she was ornery and staff were not able to deal with her. I was assigned to her because I was the only one who did not refuse. Armed with this false sense of who she was and half expecting a demanding, rude patient, I started my shift and opened her door. I was taken aback by how beautiful she was. She was a fit young woman from the Caribbean with gorgeous tan skin and with a little black pixie haircut. Her sweet young children, a boy and a girl, were lying beside her. Her husband was at her bedside, despondent, with his head in her lap as she stroked his hair. She looked like a queen consoling her king. Her big doe eyes met mine, and if I could say there was a moment God Almighty Himself put me right where I needed to be, it was at that moment. She had stage four uterine cancer with metastases to the lungs and bone. I couldn’t wrap my mind around how somebody who looked better than I did physically could be so sick. I proceeded to care for her, took her vital signs, and offered her medication as ordered. When asked how she was feeling, she barely spoke to me. When her family left the following morning, her stoic guard collapsed. She waited until her husband and children left before she let her true feelings show. She told me her story, how quickly she was diagnosed, and stated, “As a woman and a mother, I have to be strong for them. Do you mind if I cry with you?” It was time for my shift to end and I ended up spending 3 hours after my shift just talking to her, listening, consoling, and being present in the moment. She said I reminded her of her sister. She explained how she accepted God’s challenge but lived in the real fear of leaving her family behind. There was a solid strength in her that awed me and we spoke like two old friends. I felt Godly, agape love. Her realness with me was baffling. I could see she bottled up these emotions for the sake of her family and I was happy to be her shoulder to cry on. She told me something that will resonate with me forever. “I may not ever know for sure why I was put on this earth, but I sure hope that I left the people I loved in life in a better state than I found them. I won’t question God, because His will is sovereign over anything, but I’m a human. I’m scared and I’m not ashamed of that.” I washed her hair and massaged her feet before I left, and we shared a final hug. I was so devastated that something so bad was happening to somebody so nice that I admit that I questioned Almighty God as to why these terrible diagnoses plague people. I understand why colleagues refused her as a patient now. It physically hurt me to take care of her, because I cared about her so much. The essence of caring in this nursing situation is courage. Caritas #7 and #8: Balance and Cocreate: What are the focuses of the nurse’s patient teaching for Mrs. Quinn? What does Mrs. Quinn’s spouse and children need to know? How can the nurse and Mrs. Quinn create a healing environment for Mrs. Quinn’s physical and spiritual needs