When I was in my early twenties, my mother was diagnosed with cancer and given a year to live. I sat at her bedside and talked about all...

The first thing I noticed when I met them, was the way he looked at her. It was far more than love alone, it was trust, and compassion...

I will start by saying that I am not a very religious person. I do not practice any particular faith, nor have I made a commitment to a...

Have you ever thought about the music you want played at your death bed? We put a lot of thought into music we want at weddings, and we...

At the end of your day, do you think about how many times you might have felt joy? I have been thinking a lot about this, especially recently. I have always been a “glass half full” kind of gal, but it seems that lately I am so overwhelmed by everything we are all having to try and navigate in our world, that I find myself focusing more on how tired I am, or sad, or scared, or everything in between. Sometimes I think I may have lost sight of joy and that makes me sad. I looke

I was recently visiting a patient who has lost his ability to speak clearly, and although he says many words, they are random, and did...

Every day for the last year of her 95 years, she sat in her cozy window seat in the corner of her room and looked out the window. She...

When you work in hospice, talking about death is something you become very used to, and are usually not uncomfortable with. Sometimes I...

Over the years as I have started to evolve in the care of patients at the end of life, I have found that what I am drawn to most is how...

A few weeks ago, I received a message from someone I am connected with on Facebook, but I have never met. Like myself, she is a hospice...

Before I became a hospice nurse and all through nursing school, I was a caregiver for a husband and wife who were in their 80’s. I took...

I am writing this on the day of my graduation of a program that certified me to become an end-of-life doula. I have spent most of the...

Every morning I wake up the same way; I check the time, thankful for the additional twenty minutes I usually end up having before I need...

When people ask me why I do the work I do, which is a question I get asked often, I usually say the same thing each time; I see a lot of...

I think it is fair to say that after someone dies, we look for signs that they are still out there watching over us, or simply paying us...

Every Friday I see a patient for wound care, he is not actively dying but he is declining and being in his 90’s I think that would be...

I was sitting at the bedside with the wife of a man who was nearing the end of his life. This is not unusual for me, as it is my...

As I was driving away from a visit with my granddaughters recently, I thought to myself, “what if this is the last time I see them”,...

One of the most valuable lessons I have learned as a hospice nurse, is the importance of the team you share a patient with. Early on I...

As the weeks and now months pass me by, I find myself feeling less and less hopeful that we will get through this any time soon, and I am...