Tears on the Job for End of Life Workers
Death for those who work in end of life is not failureor the enemy. It is the ending of the work we do. Our satisfaction in thedeath of a patient...
Something to Think About: a blog on end of life
Grief
Stuck in Grief
In normal grieving, time begins to lessen the intensity of the emotional pain of our loss. There is a process to grief (see My Friend, I Care) and although we never forget...
Does "No Code" mean "No Care"?
First, lets define “No Code”. The simplest explanation I found was Googled from the Free Dictionary http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/no+code“a note written in the patient record and signed by a qualified, usually senior or...
Reaching for the Far Side of Grief
We are generally very tired, physically and emotionally, by the time our caregiving is over. Our thinking processes are not what we are used to. We are tired, weepy, aimless,...
Grieving for Grandma
...Children and their grieving process is affected by their age and their maturity level. We all grieve, no matter our age, but our understanding of this normal life experience varies...
Compassion
First, let’s not judge a person’s grief by their words or actions. We don’t really know what is going on inside this person...
Living With The Maybe
Grief is a reaction to loss. Loss equates to a death, a death of something or someone. Death comes in many ways, many forms. There is the death of a...
A Moment of Death Guide
I wrote this post as a follow up to last week's post, The Final Hours Before Death. To: End of life doulas, in-home caregivers, hospice nurses, social workers and chaplains,...
For Those With Heavy Feelings of Loss
How to let go and stop feeling guilty? At first you probably aren't even aware of your feelings. When someone close to us dies, even if we are told it...
Infant Loss
October 15 was National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. I’ve been asked to write about the grief experienced with the loss of a baby through miscarriage or stillbirth. I...
Dying Soon After A Spouse
I know “dying of a broken heart” is used frequently when death comes as a result of a tragic life event. I’m not sure that is actually why the person...
The "Do Over"
Then one day I got a phone call saying the baby was found dead in its crib---SIDS Only we didn’t call it Sudden Infant Death Syndrome then. It was just...