Nurses who find their vocation in hospice may be among the most understanding people on earth. As a nurse who has helped many, perhaps hundreds of patients transition into palliative care and hospice, I thought that I would be prepared to handle placing my father into home hospice after a stroke. At 90, my father had vascular dementia due to chronic infarctions. The call from his provider informing me that he had had an embolic stroke with a hemorrhagic component was not completely unexpected. After his anticoagulation was reversed, I knew that he was likely to have another stroke soon.

Walking the tightrope: daughter, nurse, caregiver.

I guess that’s the curse of the nurse. No false hope for me. As the nurse in the family, I walked the tightrope of caregiver, support person, and grieving daughter. The help from the hospice team was extraordinary, but the overall care and responsibility was placed on the family. It was a bit of a shock to me. I can’t imagine how families without members in health care manage.

My father did not pass his swallow test, and he had left-sided paralysis; however, he was initially able to communicate, with some effort. In fact, the priest who saw him on the first day was obviously curious […]