How a stoic nurse deals with death in the ER…

Photo by Mulyadi on Unsplash

“Memento mori — remember death! These are important words. If we kept in mind that we will soon inevitably die, our lives would be completely different. If a person knows that he will die in a half hour, he certainly will not bother doing trivial, stupid, or, especially, bad things during this half hour. Perhaps you have half a century before you die-what makes this any different from a half hour?”

Leo Tolstoy

Some of us nurses are what one would say, “long in the tooth.”

Around the block, old-timer, sage one, etc. The point is some of us have been doing this for a bit. Nursing, I mean. Me? I’ve been an RN since 1995. So yeah.

And we’ve probably seen it all. Like literally ALL, and while this isn’t about the things we see or do, the truth is that we can’t help but never forget.

Ever.

Events and patients become seared into our brains, hearts, and souls.

One of those forever imprinted memories is a question I heard and have been asked many times…