Hi Saribeth! You have a beautiful name. Thank you for your understanding reply. I love my job. My combined experience, in work and in life ie; 12 years as a psych nurse and 12 years in geriatrics, and providing end-of life care for my beloved step-father prepared me for this work. I was literally "called" into hospice. They recruited me from my resume with the unemployment office. Even 5 years ago I would not have been ready for this job. But going through the process of caring for and grieving for the loss of my Dad made me do alot of soul searching about my views on death and dying. I learned that the dying person must be allowed to make his/her own choices about all aspects of care. My dad wanted to die at home and we were in the process of making all of the arrangements for in-home support when he suddenly had a crisis. He decided to go to the hospital. I believe he didn't want my mother to have to deal with anymore. But things didn't go well. The hospital at one point felt he was "stable", moved him out of ICU, and was planning to send him to a nursing home to continue his recovery(he had multyiple life-threatening aneurisms). We went home so mom could get some rest. Apparently, the hospital didn't realize that one of his aneurisms had ruptured. He died that night,alone, no one at his side. My mom never got to say good-bye. The guilt she's felt has made the grieving process more prolonged and painful. I never want anyone elses family to go through that. So, when I was called to do this work, even though I had a lot to learn about hospice protocols, etc. and I was initially unsure of myself, I have just trusted my heart and now feel very comfortable and competent most of the time. In this job, the learning never ends. Well, that's enough about me. It's fun talking to other nurses around the country, isn't it? Stay in touch. I don't read my e-mail every day but, as our Governor said ,when he was doing someting he actually knew how to do, "I'll be bock".
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