Story and photo by James Coburn, Staff Writer
Being a hospice nurse is a human connection for Gabrilia Nunez, RN. She has thrived in her nursing career, now in its fourth year at Russell Murray Hospice. Her loyalty there has been long-lasting since she received her associate degree in nursing at Redlands Community College in El Reno. (story continued below)
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But there is always something more to learn about helping humanity, she said. After taking one class at a time for three years, Nunez expects to earn her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in December from Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
“I’ve learned a lot about leadership. I think working on those assignments help me to be a better critical thinker,” said Nunez, a case manager sat Russell Murray Hospice’s new office, located on NW 13th Street in midtown Oklahoma City.
Her motivation to become a nurse happened 10 years ago. She was close to her brother, who passed away after his vehicle was involved in a collision. She is grateful for the compassionate care her brother and loved ones received from the attentive nursing staff at Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa.
“It made me be certain this is what I wanted to do. I want to help people,” Nunez said. “The nurses were very informative and just very helpful.”
The patients and families she met as a hospice nurse makes her content to stay in hospice, she said. Many of her supervisors have been with Russell Murray for several years, she said.
“They’re just so knowledgeable and kind,” she explained. As far as the nurse aides go, they’re the eyes and ears of the nursing staff, a fundamental part of what we do. I hope they know how important they are to me — to all of us. I couldn’t do it without them.”
Nunez said her career is more than a job. It’s an honor connecting and sharing a bond with patients during fragile moments of their lives.
Nunez has often been at the bedside when patients make their transition. She said those moments are indescribable.
“I wish I had words to explain how special this is to me,” she continued.
She accepts them with unconditional love. She explains she the staff will be there to help them stay comfortable
“I try to make it a point to just stop and hold their hand. I try to tell them, ‘I’m sorry you’re going through this.’ I think that makes a difference sometimes,” Nunez said.
Families ask about the changes they see in their loved ones. Days of declining health become evident. Hospice patients become more unresponsive. They sleep a lot more.
“Usually, most of them have one day where they’re up and awake and alert,” she said.
Family members will sometimes remark that their loved one had a good day. After a few days of being unresponsive, it’s not unusual for a patient to have a sudden burst of energy.
“I think it’s a gift from God,” she said.
Quite often, a dying man or woman will begin speaking to family members who have passed on.
“A lot of times they will look up and they will grasp with their hand,” Nunez said.
She’s received a lot of gratitude from family members for making the dying process easier. Nunez received a letter from a patient’s daughter.
“She said, ‘I walked in the room and felt calm and peace.’”
Nunez said her strength comes from life experiences. She lost her brother and her grandmother perished after a battle with COVID during the height of the pandemic.
“My mom was really, really sick with COVID the year before last,” Nunez added. “She was intubated for a month and a half at INTEGRIS Canadian Valley in Yukon. My mom was in the hospital for four months. She almost died.”
Nunez said it was difficult when her family depended on her to ask questions, knowing she is a nurse.
“It wasn’t the answers they were wanting,” Nunez said.
Today, her mother is well and back to normal.
“She had some great nurses,” Nunez said.
Hospice is not about waiting for death. It’s about creating memories, she said.
“It has taught me how fragile life is. Life is moments and it helps me to live my life to the fullest,” she said. “My life experiences have taught me to be empathetic and just really to put myself in their shoes.”
She values patients as if they are her grandmother, mother, father or her husband.
Nunez and her husband can often be found on road trips or spending time with their dogs.
She also plays Mexican Bingo with her parents and loves her mom’s Mexican cooking.
For more information about Russell Murray Hospice, visit: https://rmhospice.org/
