Balance: Compassionate engagement in society

I came to work one morning to be greeted by the staff on 1 North. It appeared that our “challenging patient” had returned for the fifth time in 6 weeks. Mr. S upset the nurses because he acted out and exhibited more anger with each admission. I told them I would visit with him to discern whether something might make his stay more tolerable. I found him lying in bed, facing the wall, curled into a tight ball, and breathing rapidly. As I approached the bed, he snarled, “What do you want?” In that instant I sensed his profound sense of grief and futility as he lay dying from a painful and lengthy chronic illness. At 30, his contemporaries were dealing with the issues of life and living, not the challenge of surrendering to death.