The Meaning of Caring for Someone Dying in ICU

A Nurse’s Experience

Abstract

The mystery of death is part of the enigma of life itself. In nursing, being next to someone dying makes us more aware of our strengths and limitations while caring for someone who walks into the unknown. As nurses, we are affected by these experiences, so how do we deal with them? What is the essence of caring for someone dying in the ICU? What makes each experience unique? Through the experience of being with someone as they are dying, we discover our limits, our finiteness. We cannot deny death’s disruptive and silent spirit that embodies us, yet death, like other aspects of life, is unique; it appears to teach us that life goes on, that life cannot wait for us.