Suzanne O'Brien

I remember going on a volunteer trip to Zimbabwe to be a hospice nurse to go help them, right?

The average age of a woman's life was about 42 at the time.

Seven-year-old children were taking care of end-of-life parents.

They don't have the medications and all of the equipment that we have, but what they did have was education and they did have time.

It was so effective.

I came back to the United States, wrote this program, went into my CEO of my hospice and said, end of life is not going well for most of the patients.

What about this training from three phases of end of life, the interventions to use, everything that I've learned from bedside?

He said, this is great.

We can't use it.

I said, why?

He goes, we won't get reimbursed for it.

So it won't fit into the model.

My whole platform is education and not making decisions out of fear.

I remember coming to see my ALS patient for the very first time and he was already paralyzed, but the mind is totally intact.

And he made a comment on the very first visit that said, when the time comes, I'll take care of it.

You could hear the fear that was underneath there.

And we know from ALS that the diaphragm is not at one point going to be able to expand and people are not going to be able to breathe.

That's a terrible thing to know that that's coming.

He also was very concerned about being a burden to his wife, who was the sole caregiver.

And so I knew building the trust with him, but also educating them on the medications we have for breathing issues.