life lessons from a textbook

A nurse worked with a client who was unable to communicate because of a brain tumor. He sat up in bed, rocking back and forth and crying out in pain. His distress was not alleviated by pain medication. The nurse reported that she climbed up into the bed, rocked him, and sang lullabies to him like she sang to her son. He relaxed, became quiet, and "nestled" into the nurse's arms. He was able to sleep a bit later and died in his sleep that night. The nurse said that never before or since had she been moved to do this and talked about the importance of trusting your intuition. "I guess God must have directed my actions that day. He put me in the right place and time and gave me the courage to step outside the practice ... to care in a special way." (Communication in Nursing, 2008)