stirfried

Maybe she meant critical? it's critical to listen and observe?

Wow, thanks for all the answers! RE the above quote, is this something that happens often and is accepted? (Snowing) When it comes to the horror stories I do agree that some people just don't understand or accept the death process. Without getting too off track of the original topic, I was pretty fascinated by the Menard story (young lady with glioma who was assisted by her doc to take her own life with pills that she took herself when she was ready. Recent story in the US.) My reason for bringing her up is that she is someone who was definitely "ready." When it comes to hospice patients, what if they're just not ready? Sedation makes it impossible for them to do what they need to do or say what they need to say. I'm not talking about if they're in pain or aggitated. I'm saying once pain or agitation are under control why do they continue to be sedated?? They have no chance for conscious peace before they die. No chance to fight to live another day (for whatever personal reason they have.) They heavily sedating drugs DO have an effect on WHEN the patient dies. How do you deal with that responsibility?

I completely agree! Even thyroid! It took me months to get a stable dose & if you took me off I'd be tired, forgetful, anxious, constipated,.....in other words, a mess! i understand the person will die soon but I think these things make them uncomfortable and speed up the dying process. i sure hope we get some answers & can have a good discussion. I'm not trying to offend anyone in the profession (which is why I didn't ask "isn't sedating someone to the point of not eating and drinking euthanasia?" ) but I want to get this all cleared up so I can continue my path & decide on a direction

Hi All! I've been in healthcare for over 30 years but my experience with hospice is very limited. I was exposed to it decades ago when my grandmother was dying from cancer. It was the very end, she was in terrible pain, and was given morphine until she died. Lately I've been hearing about people under hospice care for various reasons and I was hoping some hospice nurses can answer my questions. I'll give an example: 93 y.o. Female with end-stage CHF. When hospice took over she was taken off of ALL medications. Thyroid, blood thinners, htn meds, stomach meds, all gone at once. Why would they do this? How does that help? She wasn't at the very end of her life. She probably had 5-6 months to go (if nothing drastic happened like a stroke or heart attack.) After a couple of weeks she started getting anxious. She was given up to 2mg of haldol every four hours 24/7. It was continuous. She received morphine here & there, even if she claimed to be comfortable. Over time she didn't even wake up. She stopped eating and drinking and died. Total time was 6 weeks. It seems like her death was hastened by hospice. I can't see it any other way. Is this normal now in the U.S? Did I miss something over the las few years? I'm shocked. There are many other stories similar to this online. I never really paid attention because they are found under "hospice kills" or "hospice horror stories" or similar titles. Given what I've read I can't say I disagree. Can someone help me understand this and how the nursing profession sees hospice care today? I was considering specializing in hospice care but I think I'd have a moral dilemma treating a patient this way. And how can it be explained to the family if I'm not even comfortable with the plan? Do all hospices follow this protocol or are these isolated cases? thanks!

There is a Delmars Basic Nursing Skills DVD-ROM on ebay for $79.99. It's usually really expensive. (People ask over $150 for it) Is it worth it? Are there similar DVDs out there? I'm more of a visual learner.