Julianna Paradisi, RN, OCN, is an oncology nurse navigator and writes a monthly post for this blog. The illustration below is hers.

Peds Ward (2008)/charcoal, graphite, flash, and acrylic/by Julianna Paradisi

Working in oncology, the topic of whether it’s crossing a boundary for nurses to attend the funeral of their patients comes up. Sometimes, however, we’re carried across that boundary by our heartstrings. The first patient funeral I attended was that of my first patient.

During Jack’s short life, he was the first assignment of many a new nurse on the pediatric unit where I was hired as a newly graduated nurse. He had lived in the hospital his entire life.

Jack was nearly ten months old when we met. Born with a congenital illness requiring multiple surgeries, he failed to thrive. A nasogastric tube snaked through his nose into his stomach so he could conserve the calories burned eating from a bottle or spoon. As Jack’s nurse, I mastered the skill of nasogastric tube feedings.

Most parents bond with their chronically ill babies, but it takes a big commitment on their part. Babies like Jack do not look like the pictures of healthy babies in magazines. They are cloistered in an isolette and connected […]