Dying patient may help define nurse's role

Doug Smith, MS, MA, MDIV, executive director of Kanawha Hospice in Dunbar, WV, has devised this checklist of items a dying patient could use to determine how a nurse should treat him or her.

The checklist is from Smith's book, Caregiving, published in 1997 by MacMillan Press of New York.

I would like my nurse to help me . . .

· find medication for pain relief;

· find medication for other physical problems;

· address some emotional issues;

· learn more about alternatives to pain medication;

· learn about ways to put more quality into my life;

· understand the length and status of my last days;

· communicate with my physician(s);

· make more decisions about my own well-being;

· adjust to loss of control over bodily functions;

· communicate my concerns and wishes to my family and close friends;

· explore religious or spiritual issues;

· communicate feelings toward a particular person;

· finish a project;

· something else.