Final Gifts

i have not but under the thread "has anybody read this?", a poster mentioned that book and stated it was a wonderful book and very useful.

leslie

Final Gifts is a great book, but it's nurses' personal stories of their hospice experiences, not something you would really use as a reference.

I accepted a job with hospice today! I'm going in for IDG and new hire paperwork tomorrow - yay! Congrats on your new job.

I bought Final Gifts several weeks ago in preparation for the career change. (TCU/Float LPN in hospital for 2 yrs, brand new RN.)

It was really helpful for me to learn what to anticipate so that I can better educate families about what a patient may need before they can die. As another poster said, it's not so much a reference as a great primer for beginners. And you can recommend it to families, too.

There are two great books by Elizabeth Ray: "I'm With You Now" and "I"M Here to Help."

They are great references and I still refer to them, and have lent them to hospice families who also found them very helpful.

I like "Final Gifts" but it's not a reference, just stories, though well worth reading.

Peter Kaye's symptom management book is also very useful.

I am also starting my Hospice job May 1st. They gave me an absolutely fabulaous orientation manual - divdided into family dynamics, pain management, spirituality, symptom management etc, etc. Many articles, papers. I also recently went to hospice educational program and the book they sold was Pain Management at the End of life - bridging the Gap between Knowledge and Practice. It is put out by Hospice Foundation of America - and was printed 2006

Still working through it but it really explains the different types of pain and appropriate medications to help that particular pain type as well as myths about pain, social, cultural, spiritual and psychological barriers to pain management. Plus my hospice has a "library" of books and articles and I asked the director if she could prioritize some reading for me.

good luck to the others who are just starting!

Delta

Jersey RN, are you using the 1990 book called Notes on Symptom Control in Hospice and Palliative Care, by Peter Kaye? Is this the newest edition?

Thanks-

A 2006 edition was just released. I have the edition just prior to that... I don't have it here to check the date, but it's not as old as 1990. It is helpful but not definitive. There is also a book of algorithms by Linda Seaman-Wrede I refer to sometimes. And I also find the Hospice Pharmacia MUGS useful sometimes too.

It's a wonderful book. These two nurses originated the idea of "Nearing Death Awareness". Not only will you refer to it, and share it with other nurses and families throughout your career, it will change the way you think about dying. I have probably bought and given away 15 copies of it over the years. The chaplain at my hospice gives a copy to nursing students who spend time with us. You might also enjoy "A Midwife for Souls". keep reading--there's a lot to learn. (And both books are available in paperback--inexpensive.)