Suzanne O'Brien

I have no end-of-life experience.

But when I thought about working with people at the end of life, there was something that was so connected.

The very first day I went out to see hospice patients, I knew I was in the exact place I was supposed to be in my life.

The current hospice model relies on 98% of the hands-on end-of-life care being done by the family caregiver.

And so hospice, we can talk about how it started, but based when the reimbursement model came through, which I believe the hospice benefit came in 1982 with Ronald Reagan.

It changed everything.

So in one sense, they said, well, now everyone has access.

Right.

So that's like the big banner.

And that sounds great.

So the hospice model today is that the hospice nurse is supposed to teach the loved ones how to do that end of life care.

When I was a hospice nurse, I had about one hour once a week.

to teach that care.

There's this perfect storm that's happening right now, the late time that people are getting admitted to hospice, the fear of death that's prevalent, and I'm there for one hour once a week.

What can really be done there?

It's not working well.

Over 16 years, we've had over 400,000 people from 39 countries take that training.

Not enough.

Death is not a medical experience.

It's a human one.