Sitting in a Stranger's Bathtub is a collection of poetry interested in the relationship between grief and time. It seems the more grief "happens" or rather, reiterates or transforms itself (a birth provoked by something unknown and can only be attributed to time and its maturing), the more grief splinters and splits off creating alternate dimensions in which things went a little bit differently, where something grand can be imagined like being present for a mother's death. These poems consider these worlds half by choice, in order to let those lives continue in their mundane yet miraculous ways, and half by possession. These poems seek to represent the horrible pang of deja vu that proves the existence of alternate happenings, and also justify deja vu as a sensation intended to fill the fragments of memory. In keeping with the tradition of the Confessional movement, these poems aim toward honesty, toward revealing the truth, only possible by showing the failures of memory, particularly in the presence of grief. / Master of Fine Arts / Sitting in a Stranger’s Bathtub is a poetry collection.

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No / Despite advances in technology and medicine, death itself remains an immutable certainty. Indeed, the acceptance and understanding of our mortality are among the enduring metaphysical challenges that have confronted human beings from the beginning of time. How have we sought to cope with the inevitability of our mortality? How do various cultural and social representations of mortality shape and influence the way in which we understand and approach death? To what extent do personal beliefs and convictions about the meaning of life or the notion of an afterlife affect how we perceive and experience the process of death and dying? Steve Paulson, executive producer and host of To the Best of Our Knowledge, moderated a discussion on death, dying, and what lies beyond that included psychologist Lani Leary, professor of philosophy and religion Jeffrey J. Kripal, and sociologist Allan Kellehear. The following is an edited transcript of the discussion that occurred February 5, 7:00-8:30 pm, at the New York Academy of Sciences in New York City.

This diploma work deals with hospice and a quality of care given to the clients of the hospice, that fully covers complex needs, changing during a life limiting illness, taking in account the dignity of the human being to the very last moment of his life. This care is a promise for a man, that he won´t be alone in the burdensome moments of his life. There are a hospice management and various forms of hospice care in Czech Republic described in a theoretical part of the work. This chapter is to be a handbook for providing companionship to the dying person and is to draw our attention not only to the changing priorities of the dying person and to stages, that he is to go through, but to an irreplaceable role of a caregiver at his bed. In a practical part of this work there are investigated the attitudes of the caregivers in hospice and public to the process of dying of the human being. The founded results of the research show, that people finding themselves in a final stage of the life-limiting illness change their priorities; the spiritual needs become more important, especially to attain a peace with self, with other people; clients trusting in God long for consilience with God; the results of the research show however, that most public is not familiar enough with the problem of dying and death, and that there is generally low knowledge on how to provide companionship to the dying person.

This dissertation is about pastoral care and counselling to elderly people to keep them visible within our faith communities. The research is a reflection and a re-telling of the lives of five elderly people who shared their stories with me. I heard them talk about ageing as an ongoing journey that is not always smooth. To grow older includes a lot of changes and a reassessment of lifestyles and goals as well as the danger of becoming invisible to others. Visibility cannot be maintained without communities of support, and care within communities of shared prophetic mission. A pastoral therapist must convey the Christian message of care by healing and caring solidarity, co-constructing new narratives of hope, and bringing back visibility to the elderly. / Practical Theology / M.Th. (Specialisation in Pastoral Therapy)

Bakgrund: Dödshjälp är endast lagligt i ett fåtal länder och stater i världen, men det förekommer att patienter förmedlar en önskan om dödshjälp till vårdpersonal, även i andra länder. Läkare beskriver bördan med att hantera förfrågningar om dödshjälp och försöker undvika dessa genom att behandla patienters fysiska samt psykiska behov. Anhöriga till individer som dött genom dödshjälp, menade att den döende individens livskvalitet förbättrades i slutet av deras liv relaterat till beslutet gällande dödshjälp. Syfte: Att beskriva sjuksköterskors attityder till, samt erfarenheter kring dödshjälp. Metod: En litteraturöversikt, i enlighet med Friberg genomfördes. Systematisk sökning har utförts i databaserna CINAHL Complete och PubMed. Resultatet av översikten baseras på 13 originalartiklar.  Resultat: Sjuksköterskors attityder varierar oavsett om de arbetar i länder där dödshjälp är lagligt eller inte. Tendenser tyder på att sjuksköterskor är mer positivt inställda till eutanasi än läkarassisterat självmord. De underliggande aspekter som påverkar sjuksköterskors attityder grundas på deras personliga värderingar utifrån professionell kunskap, erfarenheter och religiösa övertygelser. Sjuksköterskor kan rättfärdiga sina handlingar genom så kallad dubbel-effekt, där goda handlingar utförs trots att det kan leda till negativa konsekvenser. Palliativ vård fungerar som preventiv strategi, vilket tidvis minskar antalet förfrågningar om dödshjälp. Diskussion: Resultaten är diskuterade utifrån Beauchamp och Childress etiska principer, samt vårdande utifrån deras tolkning av vårdande etik. Det uppstår konflikter mellan sjuksköterskors personliga värderingar, yrkesprofessionella kunskap, lagar och de etiska principerna i vårdandet av döende individer med obotliga sjukdomar.

Dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree in Masters of Technology: Nursing, Durban University of Technology, 2011. / Background Working in the intensive care unit can be traumatic for nursing personnel. Critical care nurses are faced with repeated exposure to death and dying as they are involved in caring for patients who are actively dying or who have been told that they have a terminal illness and are faced with the possibility of impending death. Critical care nurses relate in different ways to the phenomena of death and dying within their nursing profession and their scope of practice. These nurses often have a difficult time coping with the stress that comes with caring for those who are dying or relating to loved ones of those that are dying. Aim of the study The aim of the study was to explore the critical care nurse’s experiences of death and dying. Methodology A qualitative, descriptive phenomenological approach was used to guide the study. Four nurses were recruited and rich descriptions of their experiences were gained through individual face-to-face interviews. One broad question was asked: ‘What are your experiences regarding death and dying of your patients in ICU?’ iii Results The findings of this study revealed that issues such as communication, multicultural diversity, education and coping mechanisms relating to caring for the critically ill and dying patient are essential in nursing education and practice. Critical care nurses need to have support networks in place, not only to assist in providing care, but also for their own emotional support / M

This thesis describes the life of a family with a dying child. The objective of the thesis is to describe the experience of its members after the diagnosis has been decided, during treatment and after the child's decease. It discusses the phases of going through the disease and death of one's own child for the parents and other close persons and how such a critical event in a family's life changes its values and attitudes. The theoretical part of this thesis deals with experiencing of all stages of the child's disease by their closest persons and with the psychology of the ill child. In this context, it briefly describes the history and idea of care of the incurably ill and the possibility of family support provided by non- governmental organizations. The practical part of the thesis contains the findings of the qualitative research conducted using the phenomenology approach on how the parents supported the child in the terminal stage of their disease, what they went through during this difficult time of life and how they remember that time after certain time has elapsed. Respondents include the parents or closest persons of children aged over one year that deceased as a result of a malignant disease.

My diploma thesis is called The Palliative Care of Dying People with Intellectual Disabilities in Sheltered Housing. The purpose of the text is to create an overview study of palliative care about dying people with mental disabilities. The reason why I have decided to focus on such a relevant issue is a wide shortage of information in Czech Republic compared to other countries. People with mental disabilities nowadays tend to live longer and the question of palliative care for them is crucial. My thesis is divided into six main sections. In the first section I talk about the ethics dilemma of palliative care. By ethics dilemma I mean problems that are needed to be dealt with in palliative care. One of them is the decision if it is adequate to die in an institution or in a home environment. In this section for instance it is described if it is necessarily to tell the truth the patients about their health conditions. The text is also referring to the medical advances comparing to quality of life of dying people. I also describe what the quality of life means to people and how to reach the highest level of quality of life in palliative care. In the second part of my thesis I describe the social, health and other services which are suitable for dying people and their relatives. Most of the named...

Summary: Komunikace duchovního s věřícími v krizových situacích Communication between Clergy and Communicants in crisis Lucie Isabela Vacková This thesis entitled Communication between Clergy and Communicants in crisis focuses on the work of hospital chaplains. At the beginning, there is a description of basic terms such as communication, priest and crisis. Furthermore, the thesis discusses the pastoral care with regard for the ill and dying ones. In particular chapters biblical and psychological view of illness, dying and death are introduced. In the Chapter Pastoral Care I describe the main goals of care, the history of charity in term of the Christian Church, the main method of pastoral care- conversation and the current situation in the area of care in hospitals in the Czech Republic. The research was conducted in hospital in Chrudim on the department of long-term care. The research`s objective was to determine how the patients percieve the pastoral care, what they expect from the pastoral care and whether they would personally use this care. Pastoral care in hospitals in the Czech Republic is still being shaped up. People often worry that a priest will try to persuade them to believe, if they use his services. Therefore, they are rather indifferent to this care, sometimes aggressively refusing. The...