Showing posts with label Death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Death. Show all posts

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian Dies; Death With Dignity Proponent Remembered

Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian, otherwise known as "Doctor Death" fell victim Friday to a blood clot that released from his leg and lodged in his heart, assumed to be complications of kidney problems for which he was admitted to a hospital for in May of this year. He was 83 years of age.

Kevorkian is most known for serving eight years of a 10-to-25-year prison sentence for second-degree murder starting in 1999. This resulted from a videotape he had made on September 17, 1998 which depicted the voluntary euthanasia of Thomas Youk, with the doctor's assistance by administering lethal injection.

Though his methods were controversial, the attention he prompted to the issue of "end of life" choices and "right to die" will only benefit patients as government agencies and lawmakers were forced to address the issues.

Andrew Lopez, RN @nursefriendly

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Andrew Lopez, RN
Nursefriendly, Inc. A New Jersey Corporation.
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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

HIV & AIDS Information :: A third of deaths in patients with HIV are attributable to other serious illness present at time of HIV diagnosis

A substantial proportion of the mortality in HIV-positive patients is caused by serious illnesses that were present before diagnosis with HIV, Danish investigators report in the online edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

Overall, a third of all deaths were attributable to illnesses that were already present at the time of HIV diagnosis. The study also showed that mortality rates were significantly higher in patients with HIV than in the general Danish population.

The introduction of effective antiretroviral therapy in the late 1990s transformed the prognosis of many HIV-positive patients. Non-AIDS-related diseases are an increasingly important cause of illness and death in patients with HIV, and the burden of such diseases is expected to increase as the HIV-positive population ages.

However, the impact of illnesses acquired by patients before their diagnosis with HIV on prognosis is poorly understood.

Click on the "via" link for the full article.

See also:
AIDS/HIV Nurses:
http://nursefriendly.com/aids/

Geneviève Clavreul, RN, Ph.D., President & CEO, Solutions Outside the Box:"She brings over forty years of management consulting experience to the Solutions Outside the Box team. Her expertise is management with a focus on healthcare, nursing, and HIV/AIDS. She is also a well-known HIV/AIDS and healthcare activist, using her own resources to speak out on issues of significance to women, people living with HIV/AIDS, and patient advocacy."
Solutions Outside the Box
PO Box 867
Pasadena, CA 91102-0867
Office Number: (626) 844-7812 Office Fax: (626) 844-7813
http://www.solutionsoutsidethebox.net

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RichardFerri.com:"Welcome to RichardFerri.com! The goal of this site is to give you information on the real needs of HIV positive people and their medical care. I am an AIDS specialist who is also HIV positive. So my view on living with HIV is more than just lessons learned from a textbook or a clinical exam. I live with this virus and know how it can make you feel. One of the areas that I am impassioned about is symptom management. Most clinicians do not know how to treat the ongoing symptoms of HIV disease. Many shy away from pain and symptom management because it is too difficult. I welcome treating people's symptoms and getting them back on the road to health."
rick@richardferri.com
Crossroads Medical
269 Chatham Road, Harwich, MA 02645
http://www.richardferri.com/

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Karen Mercereau, RN, RN Patient Advocates, PLLC:"For over 7 years, we at RN Patient Advocates have worked independently with patients to assist them in finding the best healthcare and treatment outcomes possible. Do you have a medical crisis? Wonder what doctors might best help you? Have a mystery illness that no one can diagnose? Have several doctors who don’t speak to each other? Wonder what all of your medications actually do for you? Experienced clinical RNs are a treasure trove of information and, working as independent RN Patient Advocates, can stand by your side through your illness: asking the healthcare questions you don’t know how to ask, teaching you what is really going on in your body, researching and teaching you the full range of treatment options, guiding you through the maze of the healthcare system so it can best serve you."
Karen Mercereau, RN
RN Patient Advocates, PLLC
3400 West Goret Road
P.O. Box 87968
Tucson, AZ 85754-7968
(520) 743-7008
http://patientadvocates.com/

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Sincerely,

Andrew Lopez, RN
Nursefriendly, Inc. A New Jersey Corporation.
38 Tattersall Drive, Mantua New Jersey 08051
http://www.nursefriendly.com info@nursefriendly.com ICQ #6116137
856-415-9617, (fax) 415-9618

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Friday, April 22, 2011

More senior citizens are dying at home - Miami-Dade - MiamiHerald.com

jdorschner@MiamiHerald.com

After years of experts and patients saying people at the end of life might be more comfortable dying at home, a new study says that may finally be happening: fewer seniors in the United States and South Florida are dying in hospitals.

But the same survey finds that in the last months of life for seniors throughout the United States and especially in Miami, the trend is for more of them to see large numbers of specialists and to spend more time in expensive intensive care units.

Those are the results of the latest study from the Dartmouth Atlas, a project of the Dartmouth Medical School. The project for years has been using Medicare data to expose anomalies in healthcare costs and wide geographic disparities in expenses.

“Miami is practically off the charts,” says David Goodman, a Dartmouth researcher who was the lead author of the study. “It really continues to stand out” for having the highest costs and most extensive treatments in the last months of life, even when adjusted for age, ethnicity, race and severity of illness.

Click on the "via" link to read the full article.

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Sincerely,

Andrew Lopez, RN
Nursefriendly, Inc. A New Jersey Corporation.
38 Tattersall Drive, Mantua New Jersey 08051
http://www.nursefriendly.com info@nursefriendly.com ICQ #6116137
856-415-9617, (fax) 415-9618

150,000 + Nurse-Reviewed & Approved Nursing Links

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Sunday, April 17, 2011

A Good Death | What is a Good Death? | Getting Affairs in Order

Practical ways to help to ensure a "good death"

Poets, professors, priests, and plain folks all opine about what makes a "good death." In truth, deaths are nearly as unique as the lives that came before them -- shaped by the attitudes, physical conditions, medical treatments, and mix of people involved.

Still, many have pointed to a few common factors that can help a death seem good -- and even inspiring -- as opposed to frightening, sad, or tortuous. By most standards, a good death is one in which a person dies on his own terms, relatively free from pain, in a supported and dignified setting. Other things to consider:

Having affairs in order

Not everyone has the luxury of planning for death. But those who take the time and make the effort to think about their deaths during life and plan for some of the details of their final care and comfort are more apt to retain some control and say-so in their final months and days of life.

Legal specifics of such planning can include taking steps to get affairs in order by:

Controlling pain and discomfort

Most Americans say they would prefer to die at home, according to recent polls. Yet the reality is that three-quarters of the population dies in some sort of medical institution, many of them after spending time in an intensive care unit.

As life expectancies increase, more people are becoming proactive. A growing number of aging patients are choosing not to have life-prolonging treatments that might ultimately increase pain and suffering -- such as invasive surgery or dialysis -- and deciding instead to have comfort or palliative care through hospice in their final days.

Click on the "via" link for the rest of the article.

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Sincerely,

Andrew Lopez, RN
Nursefriendly, Inc. A New Jersey Corporation.
38 Tattersall Drive, Mantua New Jersey 08051
http://www.nursefriendly.com info@nursefriendly.com ICQ #6116137
856-415-9617, (fax) 415-9618

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Sunday, April 10, 2011

Dealing with Death and Dying | Myths of Coping with Death | Caring.com

hands_held_hospital

People often adhere to a code of conduct about the end of life that's just not rooted in common sense or reality -- especially when it comes to how to talk to someone who's dying, in their final days or hours. Hospice nurse Maggie Callanan, who has attended more than 2,000 deaths, wrote her book Final Journeys: A Practical Guide for Bringing Care and Comfort at the End of Life in order to take on these myths:

Myth: Don't cry in front of the dying.
They know you're sad. Having the courage to bare your emotions gives the dying person permission to be candid about his or her own feelings. Your tears are evidence of your love. And they can also be a relief to the person, telegraphing that you understand what's happening.

Myth: Keep the children away.
People often steer kids away from death so they'll remember the person in a good light and not be frightened. But most kids do well with simple explanations of what's happening; facts are usually less scary than their vivid imaginations. By cordoning off a child from a natural part of life, you also deprive the dying person of a beloved, comforting presence.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Quality of Death and Dying in Patients who Request Physician-Assisted Death - Journal of Palliative Medicine

Background: Physician-assisted death (PAD) was legalized in 1997 by Oregon's Death with Dignity Act (ODDA). Through 2009, 460 Oregonians have died by lethal prescription under the ODDA.

Objective: To determine whether there was a difference in the quality of the dying experience, from the perspective of family members, between 52 Oregonians who received lethal prescriptions, 34 who requested but did not receive lethal prescriptions, and 63 who did not pursue PAD.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Measurements: Family members retrospectively rated the dying experience of their loved one with the 33 item Quality of Death and Dying Questionnaire (QODD).

Click on the "via" link for the rest of the article.

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Sincerely,

Andrew Lopez, RN
Nursefriendly, Inc. A New Jersey Corporation.
38 Tattersall Drive, Mantua New Jersey 08051
http://www.nursefriendly.com info@nursefriendly.com ICQ #6116137
856-415-9617, (fax) 415-9618

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Monday, March 28, 2011

Faith Friends by Nancy Haygood, Hospice Poems, Stories of Death and Dignity

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I don’t want to say goodbye
Don’t want you to see me cry
But in the end, that sweet by and by
We will meet again.

You remind me, Lee, of me
A bound-up soul, set free
Life struggles overcome
A chance to bask in the sun.

All too short, this life seems
But in not-so-distant dreams
We know this fading world
Is but a path to the King.

Our King, He came, like me
In humanness, to be
Then hung upon that tree
To set us free.

He knew hot tears and cool springs
The love that friendship brings
Now he hears angels sing
So will we.

You and I,
We’ve known sweet-smelling children, rough-bearded men
Giggles with girlfriends, aloneness, amends,
Fear beyond reason, and joy in its season
Love is the reason. Amen.

-- Nancy Haygood, © 2006

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Thursday, March 24, 2011

This American Death: The Movie

How has the pursuit of a good or natural death been altered by advances in medical technology which now can almost always extend life, if only for a few minutes, hours or days? Who does not question their Do Not Resuscitate order with death staring them in the face? How can doctors be expected to manage death when they receive so little end-of-life training? And where can a person go to die in peace, if they have no family and do not want to endure hospital procedures?

This American Death explores the complicated world of death and dying in contemporary America, examining the cultural and systemic issues which conspire against Americans experiencing a so-called good death. Despite the consensus that exists among Americans about how they wish to die - surrounded by loved ones, pain free and relatively unaided by technology - why do so many still die in hospitals, in pain, supported by machines? The film looks at why, when a good death is seemingly achievable, few actually experience one?

Click on the "via" link for the rest of the article.

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Sincerely,

Andrew Lopez, RN
Nursefriendly, Inc. A New Jersey Corporation.
38 Tattersall Drive, Mantua New Jersey 08051
http://www.nursefriendly.com info@nursefriendly.com ICQ #6116137
856-415-9617, (fax) 415-9618

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Monday, March 21, 2011

Death, Dying, End of Life, Hospice, Inspirational Poems, Touching Stories

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Faith Friends by Nancy Haygood, Hospice Poems, Stories of Death and Dignity:"I don't want to say goodbye
Don't want you to see me cry
But in the end, that sweet by and by
We will meet again."
http://www.inspirationalnursing.com/faith

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Tribute to a Hospice Nurse by E.V. Stankowski, RN, Inspirational Poems, Touching Stories:"When it comes to death and dying
There's a special gift you share
One that Angels all admire
One that goes beyond just care

http://www.inspirationalnursing.com/hn

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A Trip To The Supermarket, Inspiration Poems, Touching Stories:"I walked into the grocery store not particularly interested in buying groceries. I wasn't hungry. The pain of losing my husband of 37 years was still too raw. And this grocery store held so many sweet memories."
http://www.nursefriendly.com/nursing/inspiration/a.trip.to.the.supermarket.htm

Inspirational Categories: Affection, Caring, Friendship, Angels In Our Lives, Watching Over Us, Bereavement, Grief, Loss, Sorrow, Death, Dying, End of Life, Hospice Poems, Love, Marriage, Matrimony, Loving Partners

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Always Say I Love You, Inspirational Poems, Touching Stories:"Brittney loved basketball Friends and parties too And when it came to painting That's all she wanted to do."
http://www.nursefriendly.com/nursing/inspiration/always_say_i_love_you.htm

Inspirational Categories: Affection, Caring, Friendship, Babies, Children, Infants, Kids, Bereavement, Grief, Loss, Sorrow, Death, Dying, End of Life, Hospice Poems, Living Life To The Fullest, Love, Caring, Self Esteem, Self Worth, Parents & Parenting

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Angels of Mercy, Inspirational Poems, Touching Stories:"Sorry if we woke you in the middle of the night But someone in your neighborhood is fighting for his life. Sorry if we block the road and make you turn around, But there's been a bad wreck with dying children on the ground."
http://www.4nursing.com/inspirational-poems-touching-stories-angels-of-mercy.html

Inspirational Categories: Death, Dying, End of Life, Hospice Poems, Emergency Medical Services (EMS)

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Beatitudes For Aging, Inspirational Poems, Touching Stories:"Blessed are they who understand My faltering steps and palsied hand. Blessed are they who know my ears today must strain to catch the words they say."
http://www.nursefriendly.com/nursing/inspiration/beatitudes.for.aging.htm

Inspirational Categories: Affection, Caring, Friendship, Angels In Our Lives, Watching Over Us, Parents & Parenting Death, Dying, End of Life, Hospice Poems, Living Life To The Fullest, Love, Caring, Self Esteem, Self Worth

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Butterfly Courage, by David L. Kuzminski:"Walking down a path through some woods in Georgia in 1977, I saw a water puddle ahead on the path. I angled my direction to go around it on the part of the path that wasn't covered by water and mud. As I reached the puddle, I was suddenly attacked!"
http://www.inspirationalnursing.com/courage

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Death Is Nothing At All, Poems About Death & Dying, Loss:"Death is nothing at all...
I have only slipped away to the next room...
I am I and you are you...
Whatever we were to each, that we are still."
http://www.inspirationalnursing.com/nothing

Inspirational Categories: Bereavement, Grief, Loss, Sorrow, Death, Dying, End of Life, Hospice Poems, Living Life To The Fullest

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Do Not Stand At My Grave, Inspirational Poems About Death & Dying:"Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow; I am the diamond glints on the snow."
http://www.inspirationalnursing.com/grave

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Earthbound Angel, Inspirational Poems, Touching Stories:"Occasionally, we are graced with the presence of an earth bound Angel. They are unable to stay with us for long, but while they do, they bring unprecedented joy and happiness to all they touch."
http://www.inspirationalnursing.com/earthbound

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Gone From My Sight, Inspirational Poems, Touching Stories:"I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean."
http://www.inspirationalnursing.com/sight

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Hummingbird Man, The by Nancy Haygood, Hospice Poems, Stories of Death and Dignity:"He shows me tomatoes – red cherries, neatly hoed,
He naps in the sun, soaks up heat, sky aglow.
"Meet my new pup," proudly, "she's for squirreling."
His pain burns deep, he hides it, buried, gnawing."
http://www.inspirationalnursing.com/hummingbird

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I Found Jesus There, Inspirational Poems, Touching Stories:"The surgeon sat beside the boy's bed; the boy's parents sat across from him. "Tomorrow morning," the surgeon began, "I'll open up your heart..." "You'll find Jesus there," the boy interrupted."
http://www.inspirationalnursing.com/there

Inspirational Categories: Affection, Caring, Friendship, Babies, Children, Infants, Kids, Death, Dying, End of Life, Hospice Poems, Parents & Parenting, Religious Poems, Christian Stories

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If It Should Be, Animal Poems, Pet Stories:"If it be I grow frail and weak, And pain should wake me from my sleep, then you must do what must be done, for this last battle can't be won."
http://www.inspirationalnursing.com/be

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If Roses Grew In Heaven, Inspirational Poems, Touching Stories:"If roses grow in Heaven, Lord please pick a bunch for me, Place them in my daughters arms and tell her they're from me."
http://www.inspirationalnursing.com/roses

Inspirational Categories: Babies, Children, Infants, Kids, Bereavement, Grief, Loss, Sorrow, Death, Dying, End of Life, Hospice Poems, Motherhood, Mothering, Moms, Parents & Parenting, Prayers, Requests, Praying, Religious Poems, Christian Stories

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If There Were No Tomorrow..., Inspirational Poems, Touching Stories:"I would tell you today
That you are the one that fills my life,
Whose smile I cannot wait to see,
Whose arms I long to have wrapped around me,
Whose lips I live to kiss,
Softly, passionately, in every way."
http://www.inspirationalnursing.com/were

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Inheritance, Inspirational Poems, Touching Stories:"There is a lovely story told about a famous art collector who learned that his son had been killed in the war, killed saving the life of another soldier. Some time past and the soldier who survived and who himself was an amateur painter, gave the art collector a simple portrait he'd sketched of his son. It was nothing like a masterpiece but it became very special to the man in his loneliness."
http://www.inspirationalnursing.com/inheritance

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Life Still Has A Meaning, Inspirational Poems, Touching Stories:"If there is a future there is time for mending- Time to see your troubles coming to an ending."
http://www.inspirationalnursing.com/meaning

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Men Do Cry, Inspirational Poems, Touching Stories:"I heard quite often "men don't cry" though no one ever told me why So when I fell and skinned a knee, no one came by to comfort me."
http://www.inspirationalnursing.com/men

Inspirational Categories: Babies, Children, Infants, Kids, Bereavement, Grief, Loss, Sorrow, Death, Dying, End of Life, Hospice Poems, Parents & Parenting

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My Brother Has Fallen, Inspirational Poems, Touching Stories:"My Brother has fallen; no, I don't know his name. Have not the same parents still family all the same. He lives in this town, I live in another, It doesn't really matter 'cause this man is my Brother."
http://www.inspirationalnursing.com/fallen

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My First Christmas In Heaven, Inspirational Poems, Touching Stories:"I see the countless Christmas Trees around the world below, with tiny lights, like heaven's stars, reflecting on the snow. The sight is so spectacular, please wipe away that tear, for I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year."
http://www.inspirationalnursing.com/my

Inspirational Categories: Angels In Our Lives, Watching Over Us, Babies, Children, Infants, Kids, Bereavement, Grief, Loss, Sorrow, Death, Dying, End of Life, Hospice Poems, Holiday Thoughts, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Etc., Living Life To The Fullest, Love, Caring, Self Esteem, Self Worth, Religious Poems, Christian Stories

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Nothing Is More Important Than Relationships:"I sat next to the bed of old man, a friend for over twenty years, and held his hand. Hal was dying. We both knew these next few days would be his last. We spent time reminiscing about his long and fruitful career as a church pastor. We talked about old friends. We chatted about his family. And I listened as he offered sage wisdom and advice to a member of a "younger generation."
http://www.inspirationalnursing.com/relationships

Categories: Affection, Caring, Friendship, Bereavement, Grief, Sadness, Sorrow, Death, Dying, End of Life, Hospice Poems, Living Life To The Fullest, Love, Caring, Self Esteem, Self Worth, Religious Poems, Christian Stories

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Old Man and His Dog,The, Inspirational Poems, Touching Stories:"An old man and his dog were walking along a country road, enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to the man that he had died. He remembered dying, and realized, too, that the dog had been dead for many years. He wondered where the road would lead them, and continued onward."
http://www.4nursing.com/inspiration-the-old-man-and-his-dog.html

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Sunday, February 27, 2011

Dying is final, but passing on lives forever

by Greg Smith, MD

It is hard to believe that those we love will die.

We can’t bear it. It’s too harsh, too complicated, too fraught with emotional baggage and unfinished business and things never said. It’s too final. Dead is dead, after all. From the moment of our birth, we are dying. Death can be painful, tragic, too soon, too quick, too slow, too easy, or too hard.

So we soften it up a bit.

She is dying, the doctors tell us.

She is passing on, we tell ourselves.

Dying implies finality and the end of the road. We cannot cheat death.

Passing on implies going through, transitioning, skirting the physics and the metaphysics involved and coming out on the other side, changed somehow, better, calmer, whole. Keeping company with the better angels of our nature while shedding the demons like a skin.

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Thursday, January 13, 2011

Saving Grace (Emergency Department Nurses)- LA Times Magazine

“I heard a guttural scream,” Rich says, “and a man was handing me his lifeless son.”

“How old?” I ask.

“Nine months. We worked on him for over an hour.”

Rich moves his chair, coughs. It’s freezing in the conference room. [Note: For privacy, nurses are mentioned only by first name.] The muffled din of the emergency room is audible through closed metal doors. It’s 7 a.m., and Rich’s 12-hour shift has just ended. “I flashed to something I heard once about how a casket doesn’t weigh very much—just enough to break a father’s heart,” he says, “and I lost it. I’m standing there, between beds one and two holding that dead baby, and I’m sobbing. I am in charge, and I’m crying.”

As an 11-year volunteer in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s emergency room, I’ve seen close up what ER nurses deal with. It takes rare emotional courage not to burn out when you know that every time those doors open—whether you are working triage in front, where a guy may stumble in with a heart attack, or in back, where paramedics may race in with a girl who has been knifed or shot—it’s bad news. Then there’s the physical strength required to survive 12-hour shifts with two half-hour breaks and 45 minutes for lunch. ER nurses never sit. But it’s the children—every ER nurse will tell you—who take the biggest toll

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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Helping patients experience death, PhillyBurbs.com:  

A handful of local hospitals recently started volunteer programs that train ordinary people to sit with those who are alone and dying.

Angelo DeLorenzo spends many nights watching people as they die.

Occasionally, the person wants to talk, sometimes through the night. Often, the patient is unconscious, but DeLorenzo reads to him or her, plays the harp or sits quietly and prays.

Everyone deserves a good death, DeLorenzo believes. No one should die without someone there to hold a hand, whisper reassuring words and make sure the person is comfortable.

So DeLorenzo stays with these dying patients at St. Mary Medical Center, where he frequently takes the overnight shift. The Middletown hospital is one of a handful in the area that have started end-of-life programs, where ordinary people such as DeLorenzo, a chaplain intern, are trained to provide comfort care for people who have no close family available.

"No One Dies Alone" - the name of the program at St. Mary - originated at an Oregon hospital in 2001. It has since spread around the world. More than 1,100 hospitals and hospices have requested copies of the program's manual, said Carleen McCornack, coordinator of the mission center of Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene, where the program started.

These types of programs will go along way towards easing patients and family members into accepting the death of a loved one.

To read the complete article click on the above link:
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Saturday, January 1, 2011

Discussing cancer treatment with the terminal patient, KevinMD.com

“Are you giving up on me?” My patient looks at me severely. “There must be other treatment options! Aren’t there some experimental drugs out there? I have beaten this cancer twice before. Are you saying that I can’t beat it again?”

No one can ever know with absolute certainty whether my patient’s newly recurrent cancer might miraculously disappear with one more treatment. His recurrence, however, has developed very quickly and is growing very rapidly. New cancer nodules are developing weekly. I have never seen a patient with a cancer this aggressive have a meaningful, sustained response to further treatment. The research literature confirms my impression.

It is always difficult to know what to recommend. Although “no further treatment” is always an alternative, I routinely run through all of the options, reviewing whatever is available, and hoping that we land on the combination that offers that improbable, one-in-a-thousand cure. However unlikely, we sometimes set up appointments and hope for the best.

Today, though, my sense is that it is time to focus on new goals.

The decision not to pursue more studies and more treatment can be very, very difficult. Surgeon and journalist Atul Gawande in an essay in The New Yorker entitled “Letting Go,” writes about how difficult it can be for physicians and patients to halt cancer treatment as the end of life draws near. The dilemma, he concludes, “arises from a still unresolved argument about what the function of medicine really is — what, in other words, we should and should not be paying for doctors to do.” In Gawande’s view, the profession should equip and supply doctors and nurses “who are willing to have the hard discussions and say what they have seen …”

Article continues at KevinMD.com
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Sunday, December 19, 2010

Death in a hospital is not always comfortable, KevinMD.com

In America, too many people die in the hospital.

I don’t mean that they die due to medical error or incompetence, though that’s always a hot topic of discussion amongst doctors, researchers, administrators, and regulators.

What I mean is that if you ask most people, they say they’d rather die at home, surrounded by their loved ones, drifting off to sleep painlessly after having had last rites administered (feel free to plug in your religious/atheistic ritual of choice here).

Why, then, do so many who want this type of death instead die medically, here in the hospital, undergoing painful treatment and the deprivations and degradations of medical care?

The answer has both simple and complex aspects. But I’ll start by sharing something that most medical professionals believe:

When my time comes, the last place I want to be is in the hospital. Don’t get me wrong–I like GlassHospital–it’s a good place to work, teach, and learn. But when the grim reaper is calling my name, I want to be as far away from here as I can.

No IVs. No needle sticks to test my blood. No waking me up to check vital signs every shift. No hospital food. No fluorescent lights.

No feeding tubes; no bladder catheters (ouch!); for Heaven’s sake, no breathing machines (‘mechanical ventilators’).

Click on the link above for the full article

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