Something to Think About

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...

With all the loss that we are experiencing during this pandemic, it isn't just physical death that we are mourning. End of Life Expert Barbara Karnes, RN has some grief...

The showing and expressing of emotions is so individual, expressing our grief is individual also. Some cry, some show anger, some depression, some “tough it up" and move forward, some...

A hospice that does not take care of its staff cannot take care of it’s patients and their families in a manner consistent with the original hospice philosophy...

I don't think it is about the cleanliness of the body but of the hands-on ritual of saying goodbye. Bathing is an intimate ritual. It can be a way of...

A group of nurses who volunteer to perform an honor presentation at funerals or memorial services for licensed practical and registered nurses. It reminds me of a veteran's honor guard and...

Aside from pleasing or displeasing others let's look at some issues that can occur as the result of becoming socially and or romantically involved soon after a death of a...

Immediately following the death I clean the body (offer family, if they want, to help or not), tidy the room, turn off overhead lights and have a small lamp on....

This has led me to think about what any of us can do for an acquaintance who has a serious illness or is caring for someone who has a serious...

Trying to "calm" a person who is choking or panicking doesn't actually work whether death is close or not. The question we have to ask is how close to death...

Maybe, at some point, you can find a place even though you move frequently. A place that has meaning to them or to you. Plant a tree in a park...