PHI 413V Topic 4 DQ 1
Based on your clinical experiences with those who are dying, how have these experiences
shaped your view of death and impacted your ability to demonstrate the qualities of
empathy?
As a nurse working in the operating room, I do not often face those who are dying. My expertise
is in total joints and spine surgery. These are usually relatively healthy patients. Even when
assisting in open heart cases, patients normally have good outcomes. Trauma cases are the
populations that did not always survive However, by the time most of these patients came to me,
they were already intubated. I didn’t even have contact with their families because as an OR
nurse, you move from one case to the next. Typically, it’s the surgeon that talks with family. The
OR is also an area of nursing where there is significantly less death than other hospital areas such
as adult and pediatric ICUs, inpatient, ER, etc. Prior to actually being a patient, I felt more
“robot-like” where I did a quick assessment. I then explain what to expect from my end in the
OR, and then I left to finish opening my room. I experienced these surgeries daily. There was
rarely any death in the OR, so to me it seemed like death “didn’t exist.” It wasn’t until I had my
son, when we were both patients, that this robot-like nurse went away. Especially after
appointments at my son’s pediatrician’s office when I was spiraling to figure out why he got sick
or why he wasn’t sleeping. I know am more empathetic, trying to relate to a person’s anxiety or
fears. A surgery may be common for me, but not to my patients. Now, I take my time, assessing
if they need more explanation, examples, jokes, or just someone to listen to them. I try to give
them a safe environment, let them know we are confident in our jobs, but validate their feelings
that it is ok to be afraid because there are risks and this isn’t something they do every day.
In the operating room, we do however, perform organ recovery. This is performed both on
patient’s that are declared brain dead and those we call “DCD” or “donation after cardiac death.”
A DCD is a donor who has suffered damaging and irreversible brain injury and may be near
death but does not meet formal brain death criteria. In these cases, the family has decided to
allow a natural death. The family is usually in the room with the patients while they pass. When
the patient's heart stops beating, the family is escorted out, and then the organs are then
recovered in the operating room. The surgeons involved in transplantation cannot be part of the
end-of-life care or in the declaration of death. This type of donation does not cause or hasten
death (UC Davis, 2024). The successful transplantation of vital organs, such as the heart and
lungs, has raised ethical questions about determining death and when it is appropriate to remove
organs from a donor. The 'dead donor rule' asserts that vital organs necessary for sustaining life
should never be removed from a living patient, as it would amount to actively contributing to
their death. This rule has been a crucial requirement for the legality and ethics of transplantation
(Hoehner, 2022). This type of situation is much more complex and can shape a person’s view of
death and influence the ability to demonstrate empathy. I try to show as much empathy as I can,
while still not allowing myself to fully feel the emotions as I still have a job to do. I tend to try
and give the family space or an ear to listen or just a presence for them. It’s a hard choice for the
family, but I always try to mention the lives their loved one is saving with their inevitable death.
Based on your clinical experiences with those who are dying, how have these experiences
shaped your view of death and impacted your ability to demonstrate the qualities of
empathy?
As a nurse working in the operating room, I do not often face those who are dying. My expertise
is in total joints and spine surgery. These are usually relatively healthy patients. Even when
assisting in open heart cases, patients normally have good outcomes. Trauma cases are the
populations that did not always survive However, by the time most of these patients came to me,
they were already intubated. I didn’t even have contact with their families because as an OR
nurse, you move from one case to the next. Typically, it’s the surgeon that talks with family. The
OR is also an area of nursing where there is significantly less death than other hospital areas such
as adult and pediatric ICUs, inpatient, ER, etc. Prior to actually being a patient, I felt more
“robot-like” where I did a quick assessment. I then explain what to expect from my end in the
OR, and then I left to finish opening my room. I experienced these surgeries daily. There was
rarely any death in the OR, so to me it seemed like death “didn’t exist.” It wasn’t until I had my
son, when we were both patients, that this robot-like nurse went away. Especially after
appointments at my son’s pediatrician’s office when I was spiraling to figure out why he got sick
or why he wasn’t sleeping. I know am more empathetic, trying to relate to a person’s anxiety or
fears. A surgery may be common for me, but not to my patients. Now, I take my time, assessing
if they need more explanation, examples, jokes, or just someone to listen to them. I try to give
them a safe environment, let them know we are confident in our jobs, but validate their feelings
that it is ok to be afraid because there are risks and this isn’t something they do every day.
In the operating room, we do however, perform organ recovery. This is performed both on
patient’s that are declared brain dead and those we call “DCD” or “donation after cardiac death.”
A DCD is a donor who has suffered damaging and irreversible brain injury and may be near
death but does not meet formal brain death criteria. In these cases, the family has decided to
allow a natural death. The family is usually in the room with the patients while they pass. When
the patient's heart stops beating, the family is escorted out, and then the organs are then
recovered in the operating room. The surgeons involved in transplantation cannot be part of the
end-of-life care or in the declaration of death. This type of donation does not cause or hasten
death (UC Davis, 2024). The successful transplantation of vital organs, such as the heart and
lungs, has raised ethical questions about determining death and when it is appropriate to remove
organs from a donor. The 'dead donor rule' asserts that vital organs necessary for sustaining life
should never be removed from a living patient, as it would amount to actively contributing to
their death. This rule has been a crucial requirement for the legality and ethics of transplantation
(Hoehner, 2022). This type of situation is much more complex and can shape a person’s view of
death and influence the ability to demonstrate empathy. I try to show as much empathy as I can,
while still not allowing myself to fully feel the emotions as I still have a job to do. I tend to try
and give the family space or an ear to listen or just a presence for them. It’s a hard choice for the
family, but I always try to mention the lives their loved one is saving with their inevitable death.
