Lately, I had been practicing coming from a place of empathy rather than sympathy. My therapist and I talked a lot about this too. For so long—even dating back to my earliest days in the ER—I had functioned from a place of sympathy. I put myself in my patient’s or their caregiver’s shoes; I put myself in the shoes of people like Will. I felt their pain, I felt their loss, and it affected me deeply. To be honest, I think this ability to feel what other people are feeling is part of what makes me a good nurse, and especially a good hospice nurse. But it also takes a personal toll, and I’m sure
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