Most people don't think about death happening in rehab, but it does. Probably more often than you know. Right now, we're rehabbing a patient who has been seeing palliative care.
It may not happen immediately on a unit, but we prepare as if it might.
I read this recent article on death from author Suzanne Gordon with more than a passing interest. It hits home to me. Sometimes I wonder why we let people get set up for false hope. Is it so we have a rehab goal for therapy? Is it so we might record a FIM gain?
Or is it because, we're just like everyone else. We don't want to be the "bad guy". If we tell the truth, we could be the bad guy and make the patient and/or his her family upset.
But if we perpetuate the illusion of hope, aren't we stealing the shred of truth the patient relies on us to give him or her?
It makes me wonder...more later.
1 comment:
Great point. Why is it that we have to keep holding onto life when we all know that one day we will lose it? I sometimes wish that we viewed death not as a 'bad' thing; maybe viewed it as another form of healing. Thank you for this reflection. Gives us all something to ponder. Enjoyed the post.
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