Something to Think About

When we die we work to leave our body. That work begins months before death from disease actually occurs but we only really see the work happening when death is...

...not telling a person they can’t be fixed is taking away their opportunity to do and say that which is important to them. It is taking away their ability to...

What do I mean by being "gentle" with yourself? I mean forgive yourself forall the things you feel guilty about. Remember we always do the best wecan with the information...

Dad was in his 11th hour and it happened to be my birthday. I was mixed on how I would feel if it happened on that day. In talking with...

It is because end of life care is different than caring for someone who is going to get better that we think the care being provided is causing harm. It...

We need to look at the promises made, evaluate them as to: can it be done, should it be done, and am I willing to do it? 

I believe that everyone has the right to decide how they will live and how they will die. There are people that no matter the disease will want to have...

Many years ago I attended a workshop at The Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. The topic was about when a clinician enters the administration work field. I don’t remember much...

For us it is very difficult to see our loved one struggling. Most of us are at the bedside of someone who is dying because we are emotionally involved. We...

What happens at the moment of death or in the hours before death, is generally just normal body actions. A tear is natural -- the eyes are partially open and...

I used to say I could teach any nurse the skills needed for end of life care, but that it was the nurse's ability to be supportive and their people...

...There is no perfect relationship. There are good times and difficult times. Sometimes the difficulty we have with the person that is dying keeps us from being at the bedside....

 If we did not relate to praying in living then we will not necessarily relate now. We die the way we have lived. We don’t change who we are just...

I do not think there is a need for narcotics just because death is approaching. Dying is not painful. Disease causes pain...

Most families are stressed, tempers can flare, nerves get frayed. It is up to us, as professionals, to use our communication skills to ease the tensions...

The congestion that occurs before death will depend upon how hydrated ordehydrated a person is. The more fluids in their body, the more congestion.Sometimes changing their position (laying them on...

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...

A great question. You have actually touched on a line of thinking that a lot of people have about the use of narcotics at end of life: that the narcotic...

Dear Barbara, Talk about the dangers of giving morphine to one who is dying? I have written many articles on morphine yet I repeatedly get this question. What that tells...

I was just on the phone with a woman who told me the doctor told her friend he was surprised she had lived this long with the disease having spread...

Dear Barbara, what are the physical changes in appearance during the dying process? Also talk about not forcing food upon the dying. The physical changes in appearance during the dying...