Since a close relative of mine passed away a little over a year ago, I have been fascinated with reading stories and articles related to end of life issues. So often in America, death and dying is a taboo subject that everyone dances around and which no one seems to be willing to openly and honestly discuss. As we are all going to die one day, I find it rather amazing that people really don’t want to discuss it.

Because I regularly represent nurses who are seeking initial licensure or are the subject of an investigation by the Ohio Board of Nursing, I was curious to see what type of training nurses receive related to end of life issues and how nurses deal with the death of their patients.

I recently came upon two books by a nurse, Theresa Brown, who is an oncology nurse from Pittsburgh, who addresses death and dying from a nurse’s perspective. In her recent book, The Shift, Brown follows the lives of four cancer patients over a 12 hour shift. Brown raises many important issues related to providing nursing care to patients in their homes, listening to patients and family members deal with their fears, and helping her patients deal with the inevitable future.

In her previous book, Critical Care, A New Nurse faces Death, Life and Everything in Between, Brown highlights her first year as a nurse. This book has been used by many nursing schools as part of their curriculum.

A story highlighting Brown and her books can be found on NPR at:

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/09/28/443468965/a-nurse-reflects-on-the-privilege-of-caring-for-dying-patients

I highly encourage all nurses (and others interested in end of life issues) to listen to the NPR story and consider reading Brown’s books or other literature on end of life issues.

As always, if you have any questions about this post or the Ohio Board of Nursing in general, please feel free contact one of the attorneys at the Collis Law Group at 614-486-3909 or contact me at beth@collislaw.com.