End of life education resources for families and professionals

With over 30 million sold the "Little Blue Book" is the first, most beloved and widely used resource of its kind. Written by American hospice pioneer Barbara Karnes, RN, Gone From My Sight explains the signs of approaching death from disease and old age.

Booklet - Gone From My Sight: The Dying Experience French Translation

End of Life Guideline Series informs people on how to live with a life-threatening illness, what to expect when someone is dying, what to do to help, managing pain, how to address the fear of death and dying and how to grieve.

End of Life Guideline Series: A Compilation of Barbara Karnes Booklets

Booklet - How Do I Know You? Dementia At The End Of Life - Caring for someone with dementia presents different challenges than caring for people with other health care issues. It doesn’t “play by the rules” that signify approaching death from disease or old age. This booklet outlines the issues and progress that a person with dementia will probably follow.

How Do I Know You? Dementia at the End of Life

“The Eleventh Hour” is the companion booklet to "Gone From My Sight: The Dying Experience" together they have been shown to significantly improve CAHPS scores, family survey results and meet Medicare requirements for consistent family education. Agencies/hospices put these two booklets together in their initial family packets to inform families on the signs of approaching death and how to care for a loved one who is dying.

Booklet - The Eleventh Hour: A Caring Guideline For The Hours To Minutes Before Death

“My Friend, I Care” is a booklet intended for the newly grieving. It addresses the normalcy of grieving and stages of grief while offering suggestions for moving forward into living. The grieving process is as foreign to us as death. The experience is forced upon us by life situations that have been beyond our control. We become angry, depressed, fearful and anxious. We do not know that all these feelings together represent grief; a normal, natural response to the loss of someone or something.

Booklet - My Friend, I Care: The Grief Experience in Spanish

There is much fear and misconception surrounding pain management at end of life. Pain at End of Life addresses, in fifth grade, non-medical terminology: pain as it relates to the dying process fear of overdosing and addiction standardized dosages around the clock administration laxatives uses of morphine sedation as it relates to dying supplemental therapies

Pain at End of Life: What You Need to Know About End of Life Comfort and Pain Management

“A Time To Live” is literature for the newly diagnosed with a poor prognosis and/or the palliative care patient; for anyone faced with the unpredictability of their future due to living with a life threatening illness. It offers guidance for living and explains comfort control, nutrition, sleep, pain medications, overdosing and addiction possibilities as they relate to a serious illnesses as well as the fear of death that we all bring to this final experience.

Booklet - A Time To Live: Living With A Life-Threatening Illness

Booklet - You Need Care Too: Self Care For The Professional Caregiver This booklet is filled with ideas and guidance for the nurse, social worker, nurse’s aide, chaplain, physician, end of life doula, or Eleventh Hour volunteer. Anyone who is immersed in the responsibilities of supporting, educating, and guiding a person and their family through the dying experience can find insight into making their work healthier.

A Place In My Heart, When Our Pet Dies is an explanation of the dying process, signs that often occur as death approaches, and ideas for what can be done during that time.

Always Offer, Never Force: Food at End of Life. One of the most challenging areas for caregivers is the role of food in the dying process. When caring for someone at the end of life, new rules apply for eating and not eating. With this in mind, I have written Always Offer, Never Force, a guide to these “new rules.” Always Offer, Never Force explains eating and not eating as end of life approaches. It is a “why” and “what to do about it” booklet. It is short, large-print, and direct, yet gentle.

Always Offer, Never Force: Food at End of Life Spanish version

End of life education for families & professionals

Trusted Since 1985
Over 35 Million Copies Distributed Worldwide

Hospice pioneer Barbara Karnes, RN, offers compassionate end-of-life education designed to guide families and professionals through the final stages of life.

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Why Families & Professionals Choose Barbara Karnes Books

The original end-of-life education resources
Written in clear, non-medical language
High-quality booklets designed to be kept, reread, and shared
Compassionate guidance for caregivers, families, and healthcare professionals
Educational resources that reduce fear and improve understanding
Trusted tools used by hospices, hospitals, and families worldwide
Helps families and caregivers create a more peaceful, sacred end-of-life experience

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The Approaching Death Support Kit brings together the essential caregiver resources I believe every family should have at the bedside — to help ease fear, answer questions, and offer comfort through each step of the process.

Included in the kit:
By Your Side: A Guide For Caring For The Dying at Home
A Time to Live: Living with a Life-Threatening Illness
Gone From My Sight: The Dying Experience
Always Offer, Never Force: Food at End of Life
The Eleventh Hour: A Caring Guide for Hours to Minutes Before

Discounted Approaching Death Support Kit

$49.00

End of Life Guideline Series: A Compilation of Barbara Karnes Booklets

$16.00

End of Life Family Support Bundle

$103.00

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The End of Life Caregiver Bundle: Empowering Professional Caregivers with Comprehensive Support

$190.06

By Your Side, A Guide for Caring for the Dying at Home

$28.00

Our Number One Resource.

When it comes to written resources for our palliative and hospice care families, your books are our number one resource. They provide solid information in words families facing challenges can understand. We usually have multiple family members asking for 'Gone From My Sight', in particular. Thanks for providing such wonderful products!

Nancy J.

As a physician I give or recommend these books to patients, friends, family. They are invaluable because they are easy to read and straightforward for people with no medical training. The information here most definitely helps caregivers assist and aid their loved ones in passing away with dignity, respect and peace more. Dying is hard work for our loved ones and for caregivers. These books help inform us all of how we can help. Highly recommend. Thank you, Barbara, for writing these books and the decades of love and support it has taken to shine a spot light on how we can all be more prepared for the inevitable for our loved ones and ourselves.

Amalia P.

Each booklet is a tiny treasure

These booklets are easy to read and very understandable. No “jargon” just common sense realistic information. Most importantly, no judgement - each caregiver, loved one and/or relative processes dying in their own way.

Lynn N.

Reassuring without glossing over hard things

My sister is facing a terminal illness and it is affecting all of our siblings, our mother and the children, too. Our family has a culture of not talking about hard things and dealing with them in isolation. These booklets helped give a clear and thoughtful picture of what we are all facing. It may take some time to process, I am hopeful that sharing these booklets may open up more channels to talk about things that otherwise would go unsaid.

Kevin L.

Most valuable asset resources I rely on

I have given them to friends and members of Hospice grief group

Scott M.

THANKS AND BLESSINGS

LOVE YOUR WORK, YOUR HONESTY, YOUR EXPERIENCE, YOUR WISDOM, AND YOUR BOOKS. I am hoping these will be helpful to my children as I go through the passing on stage of life. I am 88 and just recently graduated from Estate Planning with my lawyer. All the family knows the time is coming for my passing and we are trying to educate ourselves about how to do it best….THANKS FOR YOUR HELP IN THIS MATTER…

Kate K.

These little books are amazing and so very informative for hospice families and providers!! Every hospice company needs to invest in these amazing little books!

Chastity K

Wonderful resource

My mother entered hospice yesterday and this booklet was part of their information package, with a full endorsement of its accuracy by mom's hospice nurse. It really demystifies things (even though death is inherently mysterious, different for every human being), breaks down the stages of EOL, and provided much comfort to my siblings and I. Thank you for writing this. Is it available to purchase online for audio book purchase?

Dana C.

Gone From My Sight

Yes. Our entire team is thrilled to have these to pass out to our hospice patient's families. Love it!

Terre S.

I am a faculty member at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing. Every fall semester I teach the Master of Nursing students their ethics course. These 64 students will graduate in December and I give them each a copy of Gone from my Sight as a graduation gift. Thank you for your great resource!

Susan O.

Great reasource to use with families

I am a dietitian that works for hospice. I give these out to many of my patients and families that I work with. I love to have the Spanish version as well as we work with a lot of Spanish speaking only families. It is saying the same things I say but it is written down and Barbara has a good way with writing and explaining things.

Susan W.

I’m 89 years old, I found these books to be very enlightening. I bought 4 sets for our children. Hope they will get a better understanding of the passing process. Thank you for sharing your experiences and observations.

Rodger L.

Barbara Karnes' books have been a part of my toolkit since I started working as a hospice nurse in 2015. They are invaluable for patients and their families.

Kimberly O.

My Friend, I Care: The Grief Experience

Our Home Health & Hospice agency sends this booklet out to caregivers and family members who have lost a loved one. It has always been well received and appreciated. It is part of our bereavement program. Thank you for all the amazing booklets.

Lyne L.

Invaluable

I’ve used this with any loved one that is beginning their journey from their body. It is so comforting to know what will happen next. A nurse gave it to me when my mother was dying. I could find her on each page as she progressed.

Marjorie L.

Common sense wisdom and compassion

There are a few things I love about Barbara Karnes' work:
--her attention to detail and nuances
--her acknowledgment of the emotional issues caregivers encounter - the day-to-day challenges that are difficult to predict. She helps us prepare for them in the most effective ways.
--her sensible suggestions for the rubber-meets-road tasks that caregivers encounter
--her calm wisdom - a balm for those in the difficult, sometimes lonely process of caring for a dying loved one
--her matter-of-fact approach to the most difficult topic in this culture
--her compassion.

Her books are a treasure for any caregiver of a loved one nearing their final days. Highly recommended.

David H.

Amazing! Just What We Needed!

Thank you so much for creating something for those of us facing this hard and holy work day in and day out. As professional caregivers our emotional wellbeing is often overlooked. You are so wonderful to cater something just for us. I bought enough for all of the staff and volunteers at our comfort care home!

Sara B.

Excellent! This series of books are so helpful for the caregiver, the Loved One and the Loved Ones family! Reading together daily is so comforting! Thanks!

Grover S.

Hospice had given me this booklet when my father was dying of leukemia it helped us understand what his body was going through towards the end of his life.

Cynthia R.

I ordered a copy of each of Barbara Karnes' books. I find them all to be beautifully written and easy to understand. What an invaluable gift she has made in bringing such helpful information to readers in compassionate, bite-size pieces. Thank you!

Mary K.

Books arrived in a couple weeks and I grabbed almost every print. These will be helpful for me as I dive deeper into my Death Doula role. Thank you!!

Shelly P.

Read what caregivers and families are saying about our resources.

“There’s a normal, natural way of dying. My materials are written to guide and support anyone who is addressing end of life situations. The goal is to help people have a positive experience so families will have a sacred memory to carry with them.”

- Barbara Karnes ®

About Barbara

“There’s a normal, natural way of dying. My materials are written to guide and support anyone who is addressing end of life situations. The goal is to help people have a positive experience so families will have a sacred memory to carry with them.”

- Barbara Karnes ®

About Barbara

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New Rules for End of Life Care DVD Kit

Caring for someone as they approach the end of their life is not the same as caring for someone who is going to get better. Unfortunately, most people don't know this. Barbara Karnes, RN created "New Rules For End of Life Care" an educational kit that teaches people how to care for their loved one during the end of their life.

Whether the patient is at home, in a nursing home or hospital this kit will give you the valuable information you need to understand the dying process.

Package includes 25 Minute DVD supplement and two Booklet supplements.

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