Penny Smith

how they interact with their families and how you can have a good death experience or a bad death experience is that the best way to have the good death experience is to be able to talk about it, to acknowledge it, to know what's happening. People are afraid when they see somebody going through the dying process.

They've never seen it depicted on television or movies unless it's a violent death experience. You know, they're great at making violent death look realistic, but not so much a natural death, which is how most people are going to die. So when they see their person going through these changes, their body going through these changes, it's scary to them.

They've never seen it depicted on television or movies unless it's a violent death experience. You know, they're great at making violent death look realistic, but not so much a natural death, which is how most people are going to die. So when they see their person going through these changes, their body going through these changes, it's scary to them.

They've never seen it depicted on television or movies unless it's a violent death experience. You know, they're great at making violent death look realistic, but not so much a natural death, which is how most people are going to die. So when they see their person going through these changes, their body going through these changes, it's scary to them.

But as a hospice nurse, when I tell them that's normal, their relief is palpable. It's like, it is? Yeah, that's normal. We see that all the time.

But as a hospice nurse, when I tell them that's normal, their relief is palpable. It's like, it is? Yeah, that's normal. We see that all the time.

But as a hospice nurse, when I tell them that's normal, their relief is palpable. It's like, it is? Yeah, that's normal. We see that all the time.

Oh. hundreds, maybe into a thousand. I worked in a hospice care, two different hospice care centers for seven years. That was the first part of my hospice career. So at the bedside, in your face, death and dying. Hospice care centers are mostly for people on hospice who have acute symptom management needs that cannot be treated at home. They need to have skilled nursing 24-7.

Oh. hundreds, maybe into a thousand. I worked in a hospice care, two different hospice care centers for seven years. That was the first part of my hospice career. So at the bedside, in your face, death and dying. Hospice care centers are mostly for people on hospice who have acute symptom management needs that cannot be treated at home. They need to have skilled nursing 24-7.

Oh. hundreds, maybe into a thousand. I worked in a hospice care, two different hospice care centers for seven years. That was the first part of my hospice career. So at the bedside, in your face, death and dying. Hospice care centers are mostly for people on hospice who have acute symptom management needs that cannot be treated at home. They need to have skilled nursing 24-7.

And although the plan is to bring them in on this higher level of care, get them on the medications they need to be on, stabilize them and send them back home. Most people, when they have a pain crisis or terminal agitation, something that lands them in the care center are close to the end of life. Those things happen close to the end of life. So they usually would die in the care center.

And although the plan is to bring them in on this higher level of care, get them on the medications they need to be on, stabilize them and send them back home. Most people, when they have a pain crisis or terminal agitation, something that lands them in the care center are close to the end of life. Those things happen close to the end of life. So they usually would die in the care center.

And although the plan is to bring them in on this higher level of care, get them on the medications they need to be on, stabilize them and send them back home. Most people, when they have a pain crisis or terminal agitation, something that lands them in the care center are close to the end of life. Those things happen close to the end of life. So they usually would die in the care center.

So I might see five or six people die in a couple of days. I could be off on the weekend and come back to our 20 bed facility and we have a whole new round of patients. Everybody died over the weekend. So it's hard for me to estimate exactly how many I've witnessed their last breath, but it's, it's been in the hundreds for sure.

So I might see five or six people die in a couple of days. I could be off on the weekend and come back to our 20 bed facility and we have a whole new round of patients. Everybody died over the weekend. So it's hard for me to estimate exactly how many I've witnessed their last breath, but it's, it's been in the hundreds for sure.

So I might see five or six people die in a couple of days. I could be off on the weekend and come back to our 20 bed facility and we have a whole new round of patients. Everybody died over the weekend. So it's hard for me to estimate exactly how many I've witnessed their last breath, but it's, it's been in the hundreds for sure.

20 years. 20 years. Yeah. Yeah. And I did patient care for the majority of that time. I also have worked in education, regulatory and quality. I've always been kind of person that wants to learn as much as I can about whatever I'm doing, whether that's being a bartender, you know, or a ice skating attendant or a hospice nurse. And I was ready to leave the bedside, not because of the work itself.

20 years. 20 years. Yeah. Yeah. And I did patient care for the majority of that time. I also have worked in education, regulatory and quality. I've always been kind of person that wants to learn as much as I can about whatever I'm doing, whether that's being a bartender, you know, or a ice skating attendant or a hospice nurse. And I was ready to leave the bedside, not because of the work itself.

20 years. 20 years. Yeah. Yeah. And I did patient care for the majority of that time. I also have worked in education, regulatory and quality. I've always been kind of person that wants to learn as much as I can about whatever I'm doing, whether that's being a bartender, you know, or a ice skating attendant or a hospice nurse. And I was ready to leave the bedside, not because of the work itself.

I love working with dying people in their families. There are challenges for sure. Especially when you're a home hospice nurse and you're going into people's houses. I say being a home hospice nurse is like a box of chocolate going into someone's house. You never know what you're going to get. So it's challenging, but I loved it.