My mother was a non-Catholic nurse, and I can tell you that she would have been appalled by your nurse’s behavior – not because my mother particularly liked the Catholic Church, but because she was educated as a nurse in a time when medical professionals were taught to be extremely careful and discreet about their conversation in the presence of a patient. Anything that could cause unnecessary emotional trauma for a patient was not discussed in his presence, even to the extent of not discussing a comatose patient’s chances for survival at his bedside for fear that he might still be able to hear and have his will to live compromised. At the time, you should have asked to see the nurse’s supervisor and complained to that person immediately, and then sent a follow-up letter to the head of the nursing staff. Even now, you can still send a letter.
