A. I tell people that one of the gifts you can give to an older person is to talk about and record their life, their memories, things that the person wants to impart, on "life tapes." Or have them write in a journal, or write notes to their grandchildren for them to open at important points in their lives. So few people can do it, because it's such a recognition of the person's mortality. But in some way, it's creating perpetual life, immortality.
The other thing we do is talk to people about the resources that are available through hospice. Most of our patients are not going to die in the hospital, so you want to make sure they have plenty of support so that they're not in so much pain that they can't manage. We provide that help. There's a program where visiting nurses can transition to hospice. That's really nice because the patient and her family already know the people.
A lot of times what patients are really afraid of is the dying process. We tell them, "These are the kinds of things that can happen. We'll make sure you have the medications and support that you need." That's what I didn't have. The doctor was gone and I was supposed to just be dealing with this.
