Be Present (Acoustic version)

[Verse]
You will have patients with families and patients without. You will have patients whose family is present in that moment and patients who will face the prospect of dying alone. I can't think of anything worse than that. So when you have a patient like this, a patient with no family, no visitors, no flowers to brighten up their hospital room, you will, in all likelihood, be the last face they see. The last voice they hear. The last touch they cherish. The last essence of life they cling to. And you will need to be present with them in that moment. No matter what else is going on around you, be present with them.

[Chorus]
You will be taking this final journey with them, and your last encounters are sacred. No matter what your own future holds, their future isn't possible. Whatever hopes or dreams they had prior to this moment will never be realized. They are losing everything. They are dying. So be the person you would want with you at the end of your life. Be the you, you want beside you at the end of YOUR life.

[Verse]
Be strong, be brave, be professional, be kind, be compassionate, but most importantly, be present. Hold their hand, talk to them, be the family they don't have and maybe NEVER had. They need to know they are not alone and that you will be with them till the very end.

[Bridge]
And when you witness the light of life fade from them, you can take comfort in knowing you did what you needed to do, and in one final act of compassion and love, they didn't die alone. As a nurse and as a human being, its the most precious gift you can give. Healthcare is dignity given and preserved under the most undignified of circumstances. And it is a final act of love.

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[Verse] At some point in your nursing career you will face a patient who is dying. This is not an if, but a when. It will happen, I promise you. Regardless of where you happen to be or what speciality you happen upon. You will face a patient in the last moments of their life at some point in your nursing career. And it is in those moments we face our own mortality and our own feelings about death. [Verse] You will have patients with families and patients without. You will have patients whose family is present in that moment and patients who will face the prospect of dying alone. I can't think of anything worse than that. So when you have a patient like this, a patient with no family, no visitors, no flowers to brighten up their hospital room, you will, in all likelihood, be the last face they see. The last voice they hear. The last touch they cherish. The last essence of life they cling to. And you will need to be present with them in that moment. No matter what else is going on around you, be present with them. [Chorus] You will be taking this final journey with them, and your last encounters are sacred. No matter what your own future holds, their future isn't possible. Whatever hopes or dreams they had prior to this moment will never be realized. They are losing everything. They are dying. So be the person you would want with you at the end of your life. Be the you, you want beside you at the end of YOUR life. [Verse] Be strong, be brave, be professional, be kind, be compassionate, but most importantly, be present. Hold their hand, talk to them, be the family they don't have and maybe NEVER had. They need to know they are not alone and that you will be with them till the very end. [Bridge] And when you witness the light of life fade from them, you can take comfort in knowing you did what you needed to do, and in one final act of compassion and love, they didn't die alone. As a nurse and as a human being, its the most precious gift you can give. Healthcare is dignity given and preserved under the most undignified of circumstances. And it is a final act of love.

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