Nurse Judy opens up on emotional toll of treating terminally ill patient
By William Muthama, February 22, 2026Nurse Judy has opened up about the emotional weight of caring for a terminally ill patient during his final hours, describing one recent shift as among the hardest of her career.
In a series of Instagram posts on Sunday, February 22, 2026, the nurse recounted caring for the patient for 11 days.
She says the patient had initially been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) before being transferred to the telemetry unit, where she works.
She said that although his prognosis was poor from the beginning, witnessing his steady decline with her own eyes was overwhelming.
“Watching a human being slowly fade, while the people who love him prepare to say goodbye, is something no amount of training truly prepares you for,” she wrote.
Breaking point moment
According to Judy, the moment that broke her was when the attending doctor informed the family that the patient had only hours left to live.
She described watching him struggle with terminal breathing patterns as his loved ones stood quietly around the bed. The room, she said, felt heavy.
“The silence and the weight of final moments,” she noted, recalling how the patient’s wife hugged him tightly and broke down.
Overcome with emotion, Judy admitted she had to excuse herself briefly.
“I cried… I had to step away,” she shared, revealing that she later sought guidance on how to handle such situations professionally and what therapeutic words to offer grieving families.
The experience, she said, was even more difficult because she had formed a close bond with the family.
She says that since the patient was transferred to her unit, his wife often requested that Judy be the nurse assigned to him whenever she was on duty. The daily interactions created familiarity and trust.
She revealed that after the shift, she even sought advice on how to remain composed and what therapeutic words to offer families facing loss.