By Naomi Edmondson As part of my Pride celebrations last month, I worked through the End of Life Care Community Advocate Training, created by End of Life Choices New York. I was moved to register for this course because I want to further my understanding of advance care planning for…

By Judith Schwarz, PhD Despite the growing awareness of voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED) as a legal end of life option for hastening death, there continues to be a considerable amount of misinformation and misunderstanding regarding what is involved in this option. …

What is this article series you might wonder? Judith (Judy) Schwarz is a PhD-prepared nurse, and has provided end of life counseling for 20 years for adults with living incurable/progressive or terminal illnesses. As the Clinical Director of End of Life Choices New York, she answers questions on a range…

By Sue Checchio, MSc After a sudden illness while on vacation and an emergency scan that revealed a tear in her esophagus, Annie was airlifted to a trauma intensive care unit. …

By Bethany Gonyea, MS All of us live with the unknown of how our last days will unfold. We can plan for the inevitable, but life has a way of unwinding differently than we had hoped. People may find themselves at the end of life without the finances or family…

By Ottamissiah Moore, RN I am often asked how I managed to care for my oldest son during his brief battle with cancer. It has been the toughest task as a mother. I have worked as a nurse caring for people at the end of their life my entire nursing…

By Peter Rogatz, MD The approach of life’s end is difficult for most patients and their families. Despite the best efforts of health professionals, some patients reach a point of unrelieved suffering and seek to hasten the inevitable end. In response to such deeply felt needs, as of August 2021…

By Peter Strauss, J.D. Britney Spears, one of America’s most successful young pop stars, was 26 when her father commenced a guardianship proceeding in California (called a “conservatorship” in California) and obtained almost total control over her life and finances. While his powers over Britney, now 39, have been modified…

By Roshni Kavate, RN Introducing myself as a palliative care nurse draws either a cloud of discomfort or a wave of non-stop stories. Some people don’t know what to say when I share my work with people navigating the end of their lives. And when they do there’s sadness, a…