Psychology: Death in a Cancer Ward

There is no grimmer duty in a hospital than working in a cancer ward full of dying patients. As custodians of terminal cases, nurses bear particularly heavy emotional burdens. The girls show a tough and cold exterior—an attitude quickly acquired in hospital service. But often it cloaks deep feelings of anger and frustration at their inability to slow the inevitable or at least relieve their patients' pain. The patients, in turn, become even more despondent. Confronted by apparently diffident nurses, they begin to complain that they are lied to about their condition,...

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