Sooner or later you will be faced with this particular situation. It may not be a topic that brings pleasure, but it is a topic with which you need to be familiar. The steps are easy and straight forward, and contain a lot of 'common sense' information.
Many people don't want to think about death, but death is 'also' a part of living. Someone must step up to the plate to do what needs to be done to assist our dear loved ones through this final phases of his or her life. Allowing a dear loved one to lie in a bed and 'do the best he or she can' is inappropriate. Take a deep breath and follow through with reading this article. You may find that at the end of the article you have acquired a greater understanding of the process, and an desire to lead a helping hand.
As always, my prayer for you and your loved ones is to remain healthy and safe, become wealthy, and grow wiser.
As always, my prayer for you and your loved ones is to remain healthy and safe, become wealthy, and grow wiser.
As always, my prayer for you and your loved ones is to remain healthy and safe, become wealthy, and grow wiser.
1. Acquire the attitude that you are a support for the loved one, and not a hindrance. 2. Make the loved one as comfortable as possible. 3. Adjust room temperature to accommodate dying loved one. 4. Allow the loved one to 'call the shots.' If he or she wants company, fine, allow the company. If he refuses, provide for his or her wishes.
Step2
1. Comfort the dying loved one. 2. Keep clothing and linens clean. Keep the body clean. 3. Offer sips of cool water or ice chips. 4. Allow the dying patient whatever he or she desires. 5. Keep the room free of odors, drafts, noises, and anything that may be annoying to the loved one. Again, allow the loved one to have input.
Step3
1. Be accepting of whatever the dying loved one says or 'sees.' 2. Don't try to talk the loved one out of 'seeing' or 'hearing' things that you do not see or hear. 3. Provide soft music if the loved one desires. 4. Keep the patient warm.
Step4
1. Recognize the signs of impending death. Change in breathing patterns; shallow, time between each breath lengthening. Drop in blood pressure. Decrease in pulse rate. Feet and legs cold and bluish. Face ashen color. Eye open and fixed. 2. Reassure the loved one that he or she is loved. 3. Spend some time reminiscing of good times and special moments. 4. Remind the loved one of his or her special qualities and character traits, and special things he or she has done for others. 5. Allow the loved one to go. Tell the loved one that it is alright; that everyone will be fine, and that he or she may go.
Tips & Warnings
A True Story of Death
Once I worked as a nurse in a long-term health facility. A patient was dying. I had been his nurse two nights prior, and he had shared with me that his two boys lived in others states, and he was alone in Tennessee with only a few friends. This particular night one of his friends was standing at his bed.
The forty-five year old man was dying from abdominal cancer. The man was now breathing as a dying bird, taking short swallow breaths. His eyes were wide open, fixed and dried out. I tried to get a blood pressure reading, but no blood pressure was indicated. I tried to take a pulse at his wrist, but I could feel no pulse. I removed my stethoscope and listened to the apex of his heart; there was no sound.
His friend was watching as I went through assessment procedures. I nodded my head, “No,” when no heartbeat could be heard.
There was something going on in this room. Something that I can’t explain aside from the fact that it was very crowded. I caught myself tucking in by hips, as I pulled myself as close to the bed as possible. Later I realized that the sense of the room being crowded was a product of the room being filled with angels.
The man continued to take his short shallow breaths. His eyes remained open, fixed, and dried out from the exposure to the elements, without the intervention of blinking and natural eye moisture. I told the friend, “Tell him he can go. That everything will be all right. Tell him that Jesus is waiting. Tell him to run toward Jesus.”
The friend looked at me as if she understood, and began telling this dying man, “You can go now. Jesus is waiting. Run, run toward Jesus.”
The man had not moved all evening. I had come and gone throughout the evening up until the very end. I had not seen this man’s eyes shut, or any part of his body move. He had not tried to communicate in the least. His eyes had remained the same all through the evening. But when his friend told him that he could go, he closed his eyes, smiled, raised his shoulders off the bed about two inches, and went.
Your loved one may very well see or hear things that you don't see or hear. Allow him or her to experience whatever is there to be experienced.
Don't talk about the person dying in his or her presence. A person can hear whatever is being said, and should be spared the thoughtless, insensitive comments of family and friends.
Once a person begins to breath shallow and unevenly, the time of death can be as much as two or three days.
I have seen people hold on for days, until someone assured them that is was alright to go on.
Authority 
