Chapter 7: Sudden Death: No Time to Say Goodbye
Overview:
- How to cope when the residents death is sudden and there is no time to say goodbye
- A rare example of planned, resident-centred decision making, initiated and followed through by the resident herself
- Discussion about the nature of aged-care advocacy in its widest context (the acute-care system)
Description:
This chapter shows some gaps in the care of dying residents. Reflection on these episodes of care highlights the importance of clear communication among all carers.
Topics:
- Sudden death: no time to say goodbye
- Site of care: couldn’t I come back home?
- Acute care: keeping pace
Speaker / Author:
Rosalie Hudson
Rosalie Hudson is Director off Nursing at Harold McCracken House in Melbourne, Australia, where a palliative care philosophy provides the framework for the care of residents who are dying, and a partnership philosophy guides all relationships. Rosalie’s postgraduate research in gerontic nursing and theology has stimulated further insights for several journal articles and for this second book on living and dying in a nursing home. Personhood, death and community are the themes for her PhD thesis, inspired by the ordinary and extraordinary experiences in a rather special nursing home. Rosalie is married with a daughter, two sons, two daughters-in-law and three grandchildren.
Jennifer Richmond
Jennifer Richmond’s first career was in nursing. In hindsight, she says, the highlight of her nursing years was a long association with Melbourne’s Harold McCracken House. During this time her creative partnership with Rosalie yielded a valued friendship and a number of nursing publications. At Harold McCracken House Jennifer worked with many extraordinary and gifted staff, one of whom is novelist Michel Faber whose photographs appear in this book. After the privilege of an editing association with Ausmed Publications and a postgraduate qualification in editing and writing, Jennifer now writes fiction and works part-time as an in house medical and scientific editor for a major publisher. She lives in inner city Melbourne with her family, which includes dogs Minnie and John.
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