Death is part of life everywhere, but especially so in hospice. In hospice, the focus is often around how much time a patient has left. Family members and friends may become reluctant to leave the patient’s bedside for fear they will miss their last moments of life. Is the patient ready to die? And what is readiness to die? The hospice nurses at Suncrest Home Health and Hospice of Fremont give their perspective.
Readiness to Die
Academic research has determined that each person, their health and their state of mind can be categorized in one of the following four ways:
- Patient is not ready to die, but their body is.
- Patient is not ready to die, and their body is not either.
- Patient is ready to die, but their body is not.
- Patient is ready to die, and their body is as well.
Two of these scenarios make for a peaceful coupling; the other two present difficulties. In order to provide the best care, our hospice team works hard to determine each patient’s status as their condition progresses.
Physical Readiness
Those nearing death will sometimes speak of their bodies as if they are separate from themselves — different entities that are not under their control.
We can see this in other medical and health care situations as well. A couple wants to have a baby, but their bodies do not cooperate. Athletes want to win the game, but their bodies may be too beaten to perform. Those suffering from painful, limiting conditions such as arthritis, fibromyalgia and sickle cell anemia sometimes say their bodies are working against them.
5 Stages of Grief
Oftentimes patients are maneuvering through the five stages of grief as death nears. These include:
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance
Patients can be anywhere within these stages as their body continues to weaken. This concept is generally thought of as “fighting” death, but as we all know, death is more than just a state of mind, and it may come in the absence of readiness.
Helping to Pave the Way for a Smooth Transition
As a team of hospice workers, determining at what stage of grief or readiness to die a patient is in informs our care strategies. Death is an experience we all must go through. We may be ready, or we may not be ready.
At Suncrest Home Health and Hospice, our goal is to make the experience of dying as easy for our patients as possible. We help ensure it is pain-free. But more than that, we also try to make the transition as peaceful as possible. And the more we know about the patient and their degree of readiness to die, the better our hospice nurses can help prepare them.
For more information about hospice care, readiness to die or the five stage of grief, contact the team at Suncrest Home Health and Hospice of Fremont today.
