Something to Think About

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...

There have been many changes in hospice care since it began. Some for the better, some not so much. What I am suggesting as representing a “good” hospice is becoming...

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...

We must talk about end of life issues NOW while we are healthy, and our thoughts are not clouded with fear. Right now when emotions don’t affect our thinking. When we can...

Most of us are at the bedside of someone who is dying because we are emotionally involved. We are watching with our hearts and emotions, not our intellect, our minds...

As a person enters the dying process, months before death occurs, they will gradually stop eating. Months before death they will stop eating meats, then fruits and vegetables, then soft...

 Examine why you want to be a Death Midwife. What is bringing you to this area? If it is because you want to share your religious beliefs with others then...

Families often replay the final moments of a loved one’s life, searching for meaning in every sound, expression, or tear. Drawing from being at the bedside of hundreds of deaths,...

Have a conversation with those people that are closest to you about your ideas of “the perfect death”. “If I can’t speak for myself, here is what I want you...

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...

Dear Barbara, Please talk about unexpected youth death. In our minds we understand, that as sad as it is when an older adult dies,they have lived their life and death...

What do I personally think? If we want to die, VSED is a way of having total control. It is not illegal. It doesn’t involve others (which is illegal). It...

...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...