One of the advantages of working in a large teaching hospital is having many disciplines and support systems available to the nursing staff. As critical care nurses, we appreciate the blessing of multiple resources to meet the holistic needs of our patients and their families. Critical care nurses are often tied to the patient’s bedside because the machines, medications, and equipment require constant intervention as the patient’s conditions change from minute to minute. At our Midwest institution, we are fortunate to have care partners from other disciplines who can extend the reach of critical care nurses in providing care for body, mind, and spirit.

We depend on around-the-clock access to chaplains to support the families’ spiritual needs, which allows us to provide nursing care at the bedside. Recently a direct care nurse and I (serving as the charge nurse) had the most wonderful opportunity to be actively involved in helping...

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