Stages of Processing Grief

While I believe that each person has the right to choose their own healthcare and treatment, some will undoubtedly have a better attitude and cooperate with their health care providers more than others. Some patients may be angry that they are dying. They are just not ready to accept the inevitable. Anger is a normal part of the five stages of grief noted by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross:

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

Hospice care is not about fighting death or prolonging life with drugs, surgical procedures or technology. It's about making the patient as peaceful and comfortable as possible emotionally, mentally, spiritually and physically while preparing for transition.

While each person goes through the grieving process differently, your being aware of what to expect during each stage will help you support the patient in a holistic manner—body, soul and spirit—and educate the family and loved ones.

If you are not familiar with the stages of the grief process, you may find more information on Wikipedia.com: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCbler-Ross_model