Something to Think About

a blog on end of life

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About the BK Team
Hospice Innovator Barbara Karnes, RN explains the 3 Signs of Approaching Death from Disease or Old Age

 Know that all of these signs of approaching death, whether indicating months or weeks, are just guideposts. Some people will show all of them...

Did the AIDS Epidemic Set Us Up To Handle COVID-19? by Barbara Karnes, RN

There are many of the same circumstances with today’s coronavirus as we faced with  HIV/AIDS in the early years— lack of medical knowledge, lack of guidance, and fear. I think...

How Does "Fear of Life" Affect Dying? by Barbara Karne, RN

Yes, love of life and fear of death are a part of our personality expression as is our fear of life. In Gone From My Sight I was making a point of...

American Hospice Pioneer, Barbara Karnes, RN answers the question: Can you look back after a death and see that yes, they were dying and no one knew it?

In our personal situations we may never have an answer to the question did he know or had the process started months earlier. What I suspect is that at some...

Six Months To Live? A Doctor's Prediction by Barbara Karnes, RN

So many factors affect the length of our labor to leave this world that it is imprudent to put a specific time frame on approaching death. The closest we can...

Family Discord As Death Approaches

What I have discovered is that a family member dying can bring a family together. It can be their finest moment of closeness and comfort. But for other families it...

A PLACE IN MY HEART, When A Pet Dies by Barbara Karnes, RN

We can be as much at a loss when our pet is dying as we are when a person is dying but there doesn’t seem to be the support and...

Where Is The Hospice I Know And Love? by Barbara Karnes, RN www.bkbooks.com

Hospice can not take the experience and sadness of a loved one dying away. Our goal is to help the family create a sacred experience, to help their loved one...

3 Things You Can Do As Someone Is Dying by Barbara Karnes, RN

The hours before actual death is very scary, a "I don't know what to do" time, for anyone present. Someone who knows the normal natural way a person dies can...

Pain, Morphine & "Dying in Peace" by Barbara Karnes, RN

It is certainly not within our role to act if a person, in the pain of the moment, wants help in ending their life. In the “pain of the moment”...

A Hospice With Integrity by Barbara Karnes, RN

Be the best hospice you can possibly be, provide the highest quality of care with the most compassionate, caring staff your area has to offer. Build a reputation within the...

DYING Young or Old, The Signs Are The Same by Barbara Karnes, RN

There are other signs of approaching death that indicate a person with a disease (at any age) has weeks to live...

Nursing Home Blues, Part 2 by Barbara Karnes, RN

...Fortunately, I suppose, my mother is now bed-bound and we were able toget Hospice to help out, so she now fits the bill for a 'model patient'... but itstill seems...

The Nursing Home Blues by Barbara Karnes, RN www.bkbooks.com

As we get older, life presents us with different challenges. We adapt to them in the same way we have lived our life and dealt with all the challenges in...

Grief During the Last Stages of His Life

From the moment of a diagnosis of a life threatening illness we begin grieving. We grieve not just the eventual losses that come with serious illness but the approaching death...

Barbara Karnes, RN speaks to the question, "Do people really die of a broken heart?"

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...