This next story is not about a weird experience, but a laugh-at-yourself moment. My patient, I will call him George. George had four daughters and all four were at his bedside when he passed. I let them have time with him and made my phone calls to the hospice main office, and the doctor's office, so the death certificate could be signed. Called the funeral home to be ready for transport when George was cleaned up and dressed.

The daughters want George to leave the house by transport wearing a certain pair of pajamas, socks, slippers, and underwear. The patient always has to be bathed and dressed in what the family wants them to be wearing when picked up by the funeral home. The patient gets put in funeral clothes at the funeral home. This is more about dignity for the patient and comfort for the family. We may all come into this world naked, but no one wants to leave their house or the nursing home that way.

I bathed the patient and dressed him in underwear, and pajamas, and combed his hair. He looked just like he was sleeping. Upon completion of this and waiting for one daughter to find the socks and slippers, I called the funeral home for transport of the patient. The daughter brought me the socks and slippers to put on George. It had been forty-five minutes since I pronounced George dead.

After I was off the phone, I started to put socks on George's feet. I was at his feet with my back facing the head of the bed. All of a sudden I heard a big heavy sigh behind me. I didn't know that one of his daughters was behind me. It felt like my biggest fear as a hospice nurse had finally come to pass and I missed pronounced. I slowly turned towards the head of the bed expecting to see the patient alive.

There were three of his daughters sitting on the couch across from the hospital bed the patient was on. When I looked up and started to slowly turn, they started laughing at me. I didn't understand what was going on until I saw the one daughter at the head of the bed looking at George. I was relieved I didn't miss pronouncing the patient. At this moment all four were laughing at me.

I let out a big sigh of relief and joined in the laughter. One daughter was laughing so hard that she was in tears. The reason they were laughing was the look on my face. One daughter said to me the look was priceless and she wish she had taken a picture. I can only imagine the shock or fear on my face. I learned from this experience it's good to laugh at yourself no matter what the situation.

Another patient, I will call Barb, had started having some apnea, and she did stop breathing for exactly one minute. I believed she may have passed. I took my stethoscope and placed it on her chest to listen to her heart. Sometimes the patient stops breathing but their heart beats for a bit. I put my stethoscope on her chest, and right after that she grabbed my stethoscope and pushed it off her chest saying, "I'm not going anywhere." Yes, it startled me more than just a little. I had to laugh at myself, especially since she was nonverbal the whole shift. There are times when everyone has that moment of Shock.