They didn't say it as a joke...they'd say it with a sense of sadness.When you work in that kind of setting you develop a rather unique view of death.
Indeed. When my daughter was in Nursing School, they assigned her to the oncology unit for her 6-month practicum. It was very hard for her to provide the best care she could for patients, only to see so many of them die. I guess that's kind of why she is now an ER Nurse; granted, she still sees death there, but whenever that occurs it's rapid. And borderline cases get sent "upstairs".