Something to Think About

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

Deciding not to “tell mom she can’t be fixed" takes away that gift. Who are we (yes, even family) to determine what a person needs to or does not need...

Fear, lack of knowledge, lack of being able to really hear and understand the knowledge being given, lack of trust, living in a country where opioids (identified under the word...

Part of grieving is how you channel the feelings. Channel your anger, your disdain into how well you live your life now. Let your life experience be the learning tool...

...Rapid breathing like your dad was doing is exactly where a small bit of morphine (5 ml is small) helps slow down those 40/50 breaths a minute to a more...

A waiting list seems incongruous with end of life. Particularly since most people wait until a person is literally on death’s door before reaching out to hospice...

A person who wants to be of service, wants to give back to the community, has some spare time on their hands, and is not overly uncomfortable with the concept of...

Unfortunately, children die. We are born, we experience, and then we die. That's the name of this game called life...

What is normal is the person may be talking BUT they won’t be making sense. They may be talking to people you don’t see or hear. Yes, I believe our...

There are signs that we look for that indicate a person who has entered the dying process has months, weeks, days, or hours to live BUT not everyone “plays by...

What happens if you are a hospice nurse or CNA or social worker and the patient or family begins a conversation about spirituality? Listen, facilitate the conversation but...

First we have to recognize that to some degree we are all grieving this season. Then we make a conscious decision to lift the heavy veil and peek beyond it, let a...

Often the patient shares more with the CNA than with their own family members. We are so open and vulnerable when someone is giving us a bath, changing our bed,...

We tend to carry within our memory every death encounter we have ever had.  Yes, even we professionals who work with end of life. BUT it is the personal deathbed memory,...

I keep shouting from the roof top to hospitals, hospices, home health care agencies, and nursing facilities, “TAKE CARE OF YOUR PEOPLE!!!!!” How can we expect healthcare workers to continue...

The greatest gift you have to give is time. It won’t be the words you say, even the guidance you give, although that is all very important. It will be...

During these two years hospice has had to work through Zoom meetings, masked face to face, and lots and lots of phone calls. There has been very little face to face,...

In the early days of hospice no one told us how long we could stay with the patient and families. We simply made it up as we went along. Our goal...

I’ll say again we are a planet grieving. What does grief look like? Grief is an emotional expression. It comes out in the way we have learned to express our...

Comfort Care describes a focus on the quality of life being lived, as opposed to concentrating on the lengthening of that life no matter the quality. Comfort Care is good...

End of Life Expert Barbara Karnes, RN explains the similarities in the "labor" to enter this world and the "labor" to leave it. Read on...