BELOW SUPERNAV drop zone ⇩

Nurse helps families say goodbye virtually to end-of-life patients during pandemic

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

maylen

https://digital-stage.newsnationnow.com/

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241114185800

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241115200405

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241118165728

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241118184948

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) — A nurse at Baystate Medical Center in Massachusetts has seen firsthand how COVID-19 can affect a family, especially when they have to say goodbye to a loved one.

With hospital restrictions in place, it’s difficult for family members to visit their loved ones face to face. But one nurse helped make it possible through technology.

It may look like an ordinary iPad to many, but for families who have loved ones in the hospital, the iPad was their connection.

“I would use the iPad and I would connect a family. I would arrange the calls beforehand and I would connect people,” said Mindy Grant, an assistant nurse manager at Baystate. “Sometimes, I would be in the room for hours until somebody passed.”

Over the last year, Grant has helped facilitate this virtual connection. She said it also helps convey the medical team’s updates so families can see the care being provided.

The latest coronavirus headlines.

“We had a lot of patients who were obviously at the end of their life and families couldn’t be present, whether they lived across the country,” she said. “At the time, they only let two visitors in. So you might have three siblings that may want to see the parent that isn’t doing well, and oftentimes, you would have 10 people on the video.”

Grant says families often need guidance on how to talk to their loved one at the end of life. She encourages them to talk as they normally would, telling stories, playing music and just being there.

“I love working with people at end of life, so I volunteered to be the hands for the family,” she said. “I would put a cold washcloth on somebody’s head. I would tell them I was squeezing their hand. I would be probably more affectionate than I was supposed to be during COVID, but that physical touch is so important.”

Grant said though she carries the weight of the loss she sees, it’s an experience she will never forget.

“You get really close to patients and their families, and we go to funerals and we go to wakes. We go to all those things for our patients,” she said. “I know some people may say it’s not the best thing to do, but when you get that close to people, you want to honor the life that they had, and that’s how you do it.”

NewsNation affiliate WWLP reports Baystate Health has now loosened its restrictions for end-of-life patients, allowing more family members inside.

Coronavirus

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Site Settings Survey

 

MAIN AREA MIDDLE drop zone ⇩

Trending on NewsNation

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241119133138

MAIN AREA BOTTOM drop zone ⇩

tt

KC Chiefs parade shooting: 1 dead, 21 shot including 9 kids | Morning in America

Witness of Chiefs parade shooting describes suspect | Banfield

Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting: Mom of 2 dead, over 20 shot | Banfield

WWE star Ashley Massaro 'threatened' by board to keep quiet about alleged rape: Friend | Banfield

Friend of WWE star: Ashley Massaro 'spent hours' sobbing after alleged rape | Banfield

Sunny

la

59°F Sunny Feels like 59°
Wind
2 mph W
Humidity
36%
Sunrise
Sunset

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 47F. Winds light and variable.
47°F Clear to partly cloudy. Low 47F. Winds light and variable.
Wind
2 mph NNE
Precip
9%
Sunset
Moon Phase
Waning Gibbous