The Return Of The King

For this professional practice, I decided to interview a professional who deals with the subject of death and dying on a regular basis. The interview was conducted at Calvary Hospital which is located at 1740 Eastchester Road in the Bronx. Calvary Hospital was established in 1899 and works in connection with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. Calvary Hospital is a non-profit institution and it has a total of 225 beds. This hospital is one of the largest which focuses on end-of-life hospice and palliative care. Other programs include inpatient care, pain management, home care with bereavement and support programs for families and friends, therapeutic recreation, and music therapy. All these

Painful as it may be, such experiences brings home the finality of death. Something deep within us demands a confrontation with death. A last look assures us that the person we loved is, indeed, gone forever.” (108) Cable finishes his essay by asking, Tim if his job ever depressed him. Tim in reply says, “No it doesn’t, and I do what I can for people and take satisfaction in enabling relatives to see their loved ones as they were in real life.” (108) After reading this essay I feel as though sometimes we don’t understand death so therefore we do not talk much about it. By reading about what goes on after your loved one dies and is sent to these places to be prepared and ready for burial, it helps to understand why morticians and funeral directors do what they do. Knowing that someone enjoys taking the responsibility in providing that comfort in a sorrowful time makes me appreciate these people in these occupations a bit

Death is inevitable. It is one of the only certainties in life. Regardless, people are often uncomfortable discussing death. Nyatanga (2016) posits that the idea of no longer existing increases anxiety and emotional distress in relation to one’s mortality. Because of the difficulty in level of care for end-of-life patients, the patient and the family often need professional assistance for physical and emotional care. Many family caregivers are not professionally trained in medicine, and this is where hospice comes into play. Hospice aims to meet the holistic needs of both the patient and the patient’s family through treatment plans, education, and advocacy. There is a duality of care to the treatment provided by hospice staff in that they do not attempt to separate the patient’s care from the family’s care. Leming and Dickinson (2011) support that hospice, unlike other clinical fields, focuses on the patient and the family together instead of seeing the patient independent of the family. Many times in hospitals, the medical team focuses solely on the goal of returning the patient back to health in order for them to return to their normal lives. They do not take into account the psychological and spiritual components of the patient’s journey and the journey that the family must take as well. For treatment of the patient, Leming and Dickinson agree that hospice does not attempt to cure patients, and instead concentrates solely

I chose the GriefShare support group because as nurses we will need to help our patients and their families with the grief process when a loved one passes away. On March 29, 2014, I met Claudette St. John, the group leader, at 6:45pm at Northwest Christian Church in Acworth, GA. Rick Baldwin also attended the meeting. The group meets from 7-8:30pm. Claudette shared that she has been doing grief support classes for the past 20 years and the past 3 years she has been doing GriefShare at Northwest Christian. She lost her teenage daughter in a car accident 20 years ago. She expressed that there really are not any rules, other than just respecting each individual. She tasks herself with keeping the meetings on track and has a democratic leadership style. GriefShare is a Christian based program consisting of 13 weekly session. Participants do not need to attend all 13 sessions, the sessions can also be done individually. A workbook is given to those that are participating in the program. GriefShare’s goal is to help those experiencing grief, work through the process and recognize the different aspects of grief that they may encounter.

The beginning of life is celebrated. Books and resources are shared among friends and family in preparation for becoming a new parent. So, what happens as one approaches the end of life? Unfortunately, the same care and sharing rarely occurs in those circumstances and many face the prospect of dying unprepared. Though most people state they would prefer to die at home, this is often not where death occurs. Many Americans spend their last days attached to medical apparatus that keeps the body alive, but it does not allow for communication with family and often requires heavy sedation. Additionally, this level of treatment comes at a high price. As a society, we must become as comfortable in addressing the end of life process as we

Many terminally-ill patients give up hope when treatments are no longer available to help them and hospice care is given to them as an option. However, hospice care has proven itself to provide the best quality care for the last six months of the dying. The purpose of hospice is to provide the best care for terminally-ill patients at the end stage of their lives. Hospice offer services to support too many aspects a patient’s life such as medical, legal, spiritual care. Hospice includes art therapists, music therapists, and certified chaplains on the palliative team.

My perception of palliative and Hospice care has changed slightly when it comes to communication with the family. I walked into the hospice unit mentally preparing myself to talk with patient families about their loved one and the dying process; this was certainly not the case. The family and the patient did not want to be bothered unless comfort interventions needed to be carried out and there was no conversation to be had about the patient and his situation. This shows that each family is different, each patient is different; and we need to respect and accommodate their unique

As and 18 year old, facing death daily changed my outlook on life. I realized death is universal, afflicting people of all ethnicities, socioeconomic status, and ages. My daily tasks such as assisting on autopsies, summarizing nurse’s hospice notes and documenting evidence at the scene taught me the importance of prioritizing tasks and collaborating with other professionals. The most important skill I learned was to communicate with honesty and compassion. By listening to the next of kin empathetically and asking thoughtful questions, I demonstrated the respect the deceased would experience throughout the autopsy process. I have used this ability to listen and convey information with compassion throughout my volunteer experiences on a medical brigade to rural Honduras and while educating patients at the C.A.R.E. Clinic, range of my experiences also enabled me to see how the longevity of life is often dependent of patient finances. I saw chronic conditions progress into life-threatening conditions in Honduras, at the C.A.R.E. Clinic, and in urban emergency departments. My belief that everyone deserves quality medical care regardless of finances made me decide to major in economics as part of my double major. Finally, I will add to the cultural diversity at WMU because of my upbringing in a rural community. I bring a unique perspective of cultural backgrounds because my hometown bordered the Prairie Island Indian Community and many farms employed migrant workers. Throughout my education, tribal council members came to teach students about the culture of my Mdewakanton classmates through lectures, dance, and song. I have seen the importance of all cultures in community coming together whether through financial donations or time to help solve community needs through the creation of the C.A.R.E

This article can be used as a way to further support my argument about how most patients don’t utilize all of the benefits that hospice has to offer. There are some cases where people choose not to receive spiritual support due to

Oxford Dictionaries defines the word responsibility as “The state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or of having control over someone” (1). From a young age, every person must accept responsibility for decisions that he or she makes. As situations arise that must be dealt with, people have a duty to deal with those situations. In many ways, the act of living itself is an act of ultimate responsibility. In Robert Penn Warren’s classic novel, All the King’s Men, the central characters of the novel all have to deal with the consequences of their actions, although many of the characters try to avoid this solemn duty of life. Through analyzing the actions and inactions of the central characters, many important lessons on responsibility can be derived from the novel.

The Cokesbury United Methodist Church grief support group follows a thirteen-week curriculum from GriefShare, however, new members can join in at any time as each week has a “self-contained” lesson. The topic for the week I attendee focused on the “why” of losing a loved one. Through following this curriculum, the group seeks to equip members with “essentials to recover from the hurt of grief and loss.” (GriefShare, n.d.) The group focuses on helping members rebuild their lives after they experience tremendous loss and grief through facing the challenge together. (GriefShare, n.d.)

Theme: As ironic as it is, the theme portrayed in this week's chapters is about death and how it is only through death, that we will understand the true value of appreciation of life, family, and acceptance. Although death is not directly communicating to us, Morrie (who is on the verge of dying) acts as a "bridge" that shows us the value of life and how "once you learn how to die, you learn how to live" (Albom, 82).

According to Communicating Health, hospice provides terminal patients with what is often referred to as the “good death;” it does not provide preventative or curative care, but instead focuses on the comfort of the patient. Rasmussen and McMenamin discussed this in further detail when detailing one of their responsibilities as social workers, making the patient’s final wishes a reality. While again this may sound depressing to a majority of the outside world. McMenamin smiled brightly, with fond memories, of those who aspired to continue gardening or see their children marry. As with all things, there were not always fond memories. McMenamin and Rasmussen expressed that they as hospice workers see patients at their worst. Sometimes they find that individuals they are providing care for were abusive to their families. Another negative side, they showed us was the wish cards. The cards detailed some of the things people wish for in hospice care (to be kept clean, not being a burden to their family, and not dying alone).

In week five, I also found the topic of suicide to be very helpful because I have discovered that I need to gain skills for working with patients who are suicidal or facing death. Many cancer patients have to think a great deal about death and oftentimes contemplate suicide. Throughout my capstone presentation, it became evident how difficult it was to process death with my patient who had a terminal illness. I need to practice asking those straightforward questions about death and suicide to my patient’s. It is known that death is not a desirable topic, but it is a discussion that is necessary especially within my agency setting. I realized during my

Overall, Kingdom Keepers: The Return by Ridley JK Pearson is a favorable book for readers. There are three character experiences in the story which was interesting for me to see three different points of views. The setting is detailed (such as the black and white TV screen Finn was in) and gives a sensation that the audience is there. Something I enjoyed was that some of the characters’ personalities progressed. In the book, Jess was scared to help the Keepers because she didn't want to get kicked out of the school she attended, but she sort of decides to help after seeing Amanda risk her life to support the Kingdom Keepers. She becomes more helping.That were few of the aspects I enjoyed from the book.