4 ms·

My mother is a hospice nurse and it has given me a viewpoint I don't think I would have ever considered before. Americans (and probably most people) seem to ign

by comrh 12y ago

My mother is a hospice nurse and it has given me a viewpoint I don't think I would have ever considered before. Americans (and probably most people) seem to ignore end of life decisions because it is scary, and it can be, but it is important. So incredibly important, to the person leaving this earth to be respected and to the people they leave behind to not have awful experiences like this. It seems to be changing a little, slowly, but as this article seems to demonstrate there will be a huge amount of push back from a for profit industry. And once you die the checks stop so I don't see an incentive for them to do better.

jianshen 12y ago
I would add that it's not just end-of-life decisions that we ignore or fear but anything long term or non-acute. Modern medicine is geared towards getting better quickly but there are certain ailments, be it old age, a traumatic brain injury or mental illness, that we're absolutely terrible at dealing with. It's not that people are not willing to put in the years (as is demonstrated by the brave woman in this article) but that the learnings and breakthroughs for long term illnesses takes generations, not years and sadly we're barely at the starting line. Please thank your mother for everything that she does for her patients and thank you for sharing.
jkestner 12y ago
On death and dying, I can't recommend http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/08/02/letting-go-2 http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/08/02/letting-go-2 enough if you haven't read it before. Things I learned: hospice leads to living longer, better and cheaper; and asking people for advance directives whenever they interact with the healthcare system has a dramatic positive effect.
WalterBright 12y ago
My father passed away last summer after a long illness. We got all the DNR paperwork done in advance, and made sure all the medical personnel involved had copies. All of them were appreciative of getting the paperwork, and were fully supportive of our decision of comfort care only. They handled his final days treating him with kindness, respect, and dignity. I have no complaints.

by comrh 12y ago

jianshen 12y ago

I would add that it's not just end-of-life decisions that we ignore or fear but anything long term or non-acute. Modern medicine is geared towards getting better quickly but there are certain ailments, be it old age, a traumatic brain injury or mental illness, that we're absolutely terrible at dealing with. It's not that people are not willing to put in the years (as is demonstrated by the brave woman in this article) but that the learnings and breakthroughs for long term illnesses takes generations, not years and sadly we're barely at the starting line. Please thank your mother for everything that she does for her patients and thank you for sharing.

jkestner 12y ago

On death and dying, I can't recommend http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/08/02/letting-go-2 http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/08/02/letting-go-2 enough if you haven't read it before. Things I learned: hospice leads to living longer, better and cheaper; and asking people for advance directives whenever they interact with the healthcare system has a dramatic positive effect.

WalterBright 12y ago

My father passed away last summer after a long illness. We got all the DNR paperwork done in advance, and made sure all the medical personnel involved had copies. All of them were appreciative of getting the paperwork, and were fully supportive of our decision of comfort care only. They handled his final days treating him with kindness, respect, and dignity. I have no complaints.