Tribute to a Hero: Elisabeth Kubler Ross
February 29, 2012 | 
Author
Since the age of 17, when I read the book “On Death and Dying” in nursing school, Dr. Kubler-Ross had been a hero to me. Throughout my nursing career, I have reflected on her wise words often as I cared for patients who were suffering at the end of their lives. Read the rest of this entry »
ACGME’s Next Accreditation System: Call to Action to Hospice & Palliative Medicine Programs
HPM is uniquely situated to lead the key national effort towards competency based education, especially in the ACGME domains of Practice Based Learning and Systems Based Practice. We have much to do, much to learn and much to teach our colleagues in other sub-specialties. It is hoped that the all the leaders in various venues practicing palliative care will step up to the plate and join us in this national effort. Read the rest of this entry »
The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.
George Bernard Shaw once said that “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
So here is what happened. A patient with escalating pain was admitted with the goal of rapid pain control with parenteral analgesics...... Read the rest of this entry »
Auguries of Innocence: The patient in front of me and one third of eternity
After feeling helpless for a long time ( during patient encounters where we are always pressed for time) , for the past two years I have tried a different strategy with modest success. Instead of fighting against time, I have taken Poet William Blake's counseling to heart Read the rest of this entry »
Happy Valentine’s Day!
JPM wishes our global readers a very happy Valentine’s Day! Read the rest of this entry »
Which arguments are worth having…and which arent
I'd rather not have to think about this, but as my brain tumor patients reach the end of their lives, I frequently have to ask myself this question. "Which arguments are worth having with this family?" Read the rest of this entry »
Why I did a fellowship in Palliative Medicine? : Guest post by Domingo Maynes, MD, Hospice & Medicine Fellow
Life grips you by the shirt collars at the most inopportune moments and my calling to a fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine was a memorable case in point. Only one month into my Internal Medicine residency at Mayo Clinic, I received a phone call from my father that my paternal grandmother had suffered a devastating stroke that her physicians deemed a “terminal case.” I was asked to help make sense of the chaos. Read the rest of this entry »
Language: Be careful in your choice of words!
I recently retweeted a request from @Freshwidow to have people not use the phrase “lost her battle”. The phrase was being used in relation to a woman living with cancer, @whymommy, who had died that day. @Freshwidow went on to say that dying was not about @whymommy’s weakness or failure. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Art of healing, Communication, HIV and AIDS, Social Work | 
Tags: Bereavement | 
10 Comments »
Infinite-Caring Being : by JPM Guest Blogger Virginia Seno, PhD, RN
I’m reminded of the time when my late husband Josh died with a mere 17 days from diagnosis to death. Doctors, nurses, aides and others said and did many harmful things; and I had enormous work to do to get good care. I didn’t need that but that’s what I got. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Art of healing, Caregiver, Family, Humanistic medicine, Reflective practice, Self care, Spirituality | 4 Comments »
A Visit to St. Christopher’s Hospice
I knew that Dame Cecily Saunders had an unusual interprofessional training to begin the work that she did. I did not know until I spent time at St. Christopher’s, however, that she conceived of hospice work as being equal parts practice, research and education. Read the rest of this entry »
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