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Dying sucks
I admit it... I get attached... I try so hard not to. This work we do is so intimate and so personal that a deep connection is made...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Aug 18, 20195 min read


Death doesn't punch a time clock
After spending so many hours at the home of a patient who is actively dying and working with a family who is struggling with the...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Aug 15, 20193 min read


Grief is a dance in uncomfortable shoes
Much like death, grief is not predictable. We do not grieve the same way, it doesn’t happen on queue; there isn’t a rulebook that says: “this is how you will feel and when”. My father died 30 years ago and I am only now truly feeling that loss. My sister died less than that, and my heart aches for her daily. Some people cry, some people hold it in, some people wonder why they don’t feel a thing, and some wonder when the tears will stop and the pain will end. I received a cal
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Aug 12, 20193 min read


The last goodbye
I was sitting with a wife, two daughters and a son of a patient who was dying. It is at this time that I have the conversation about what...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Aug 11, 20194 min read


Hospice is not a diagnosis; it is a plan of care for the diagnosis
What is hospice? I get asked this question a lot. I have also heard the many misconceptions about what hospice is, and I have seen fear,...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Aug 10, 20193 min read


Be an advocate. Be an educator. Start the conversation.
I walked into the room of a patient who was in a facility, at the same moment the floor nurse walked in to give medication. She walked up...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Aug 8, 20194 min read


It doesn't get easier
Before I started my day, I called a family to let them know I would be there about noon. I left a voicemail. I was with another patient...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Aug 6, 20194 min read


Never apologize for being kind
I will never get tired of seeing people being kind to strangers, or just being kind in general. Yesterday the AC went out in our hospice...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Aug 4, 20193 min read


Life is fragile and precious
We had a patient pass recently; it happened while I had stepped out for a bit and when I walked in the door, I was told he was gone. He...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Aug 1, 20193 min read


It's okay to sing off key
I have been writing this in my head since the day she arrived, because the moment I met her, I knew immediately there was a special place...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Jul 29, 20194 min read


This time it's personal
When I was 17 I dated a guy whose mother I rubbed the wrong way. The midnight intoxicated teenage calls to him didn't help. I got a...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Jul 25, 20192 min read


Charting
This is definitely on my top 5 list of things I have so much to say about!! After a long day of seeing patients, barely taking a break to...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Jul 24, 20193 min read


Work/life balance
I struggle with saying "no". I am THAT nurse! The one that will see another patient after I have already seen 5, or work the weekend...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Jul 23, 20192 min read


Bedside manner
When someone is lying in a bed and they are unable to verbalize how they are feeling or what they might need, that is the most important...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Jul 21, 20194 min read


Last moments.
The question I get asked most, is how much longer someone has. I can tell when someone is close, and sometimes I can get the family...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Jul 19, 20192 min read


Death happens
You would think that by working in hospice you would become less surprised by the ache and pain you see others experience when death is...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Jul 17, 20194 min read


I am not an angel!
When someone asks you what you do and you tell them you are a hospice nurse, you always hear, "that must be so hard, how can you do that...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Jul 17, 20194 min read


Self care
This work is hard. In one day I could see one patient who is actively dying and have to tell the family there are only hours to days...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Jul 15, 20193 min read


Distractions
I was sitting with the wife of a man who was hours away from taking his last breath. She was nervous, emotional, and scared. After...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Jul 14, 20193 min read


End of Life Option Act (EOLOA)
As a hospice nurse, I have seen, understandably, a LOT of death. I have been blessed to have witnessed beautiful, peaceful deaths and...
Gabrielle Elise Jimenez
Jul 14, 20192 min read

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