All in a Day's Work....

I was having my initial rounds in the ward with my nurse aide. We came to our muslim patient with a DNR status. The room was filled with people. Patient's family and relatives were surrounding him and already mourning. Accessing the patient to do some assessment is quite difficult. However, I managed to reach the patient. I could only see a portion of his face and upper right arm. I grabbed a hand and pressed the fingertips to elicit pain. I checked for any reaction such as withdrawal, movement or any facial expression but could not find any, so, I pressed harder. Momentarily, requested the person standing in front of me who apparently was blocking my view to move aside. While continuously pressing the fingertip, I got a better view of the patient and to the owner of fingertip I was pressing. To my uttermost surprise, the fingertip I was holding is of the patient's wife. Dumbstruck for a moment. I could only watch her reaction. Boy...she had the ugliest facial grimace I ever saw! Immediately, we ended our visit and went to our nurse station as fast as we could. Shutting the door behind us my nurse aide and I burst into rage of laughter. Lesson learned: go back to the basics..clear first the area.