Clinicals

Yesterday was my best clinical experience thus far in nursing school. For one thing, the more I'm working in the hospital...giving meds, charting, doing physical assessments, etc. the more comfortable I am with it. But it was also great b/c of the patient I had. Her prognosis wasn't so great but she was a joy to work with. Overnight (the night before I came in) she had suddenly started expressing delusional thoughts. Possibly hallucinating but it was something that would go as quickly as it came. The nurse's best guess is that she was experiencing some psychosis...which is probably being caused by the spread of cancer into her brain.
Shitty cancer.
She seemed very cognizant but then there was a bend of some sort. She asked me in her frail, little southern elderly voice, "Dew yew see that chi-yald ova theya." To which I respond that 'no ma'am I don't see a child over there'. And she looked at me...so serious...really questioning...and asked, "Do you think it might be a ghost?"
It really was quite eerie. I know that what was going on in her brain can be described in a textbook. I know that. I know I know I know. Fortunately, text books aren't my only source of knowledge. I most definitely believe in life after death. Isn't it possible that when we get that close to crossing over we might have that "6th sense".
That probably all sounds a little wacky and anyone reading this far down may thank their lucky stars that I will never be their nurse:) My point is this: Maybe it was psychosis. Maybe it was not. But I have to hope it was the latter. If I were in her shoes I would much rather have some kid leading me home than have some horrible medical label.
That's just me, though.