All Kinds Of Love by Carolyn Jaffe and Carol H. Ehrlich Essays -- Hosp

Throughout the course of our lives we will experience the deterioration of a loved one due to illness or aging. This may cause us to make a choice of how and where we choose our loved one to die. Authors, Carolyn Jaffe and Carol H. Ehrlich, in their book All Kinds of Love, illustrate how the relationships between doctors, patients', family, friends, hospice volunteers, and hospice nurses all play an important role during he patients last days as they try to reach a "good death". In the book's foreword, Rabbi Earl A. Grollman comments on Jaffe's history of nursing experience and states "Her stories bring alive the concerns, the surprises, the victories, the disappointments, the mistakes, the uncertainties, the joys, and the pain that are part of one's dying" (1, p. v). The preface focuses on the type of care Hospice provides for the patient and family, while the section entitled "Hospice is..." provides a detailed definition of hospice.Chapter One demonstrates the sensitivity a hospice nurse must use when dealing with new patients and how the nurse must remain unbiased at all times. Chapter Two reviews the family emotional strains and stresses which can be experienced when a loved one is dying within the home and how different people deal with the change. In Chapter Three we can develop a deeper understanding of an individual's strength and acceptance through the story of Karen, a seven year old who is dying from cancer. The different coping mechanisms expressed by Karen's parents are very contrast dramatically as the needs of survivors vary.Chapter Four highlights patients' need for control and decision making over his or her own life. In Chapter Five, Henrietta, the patient had very little control over her treatment and pain because her husband r efused to accept her dying, until Janice (hospice nurse) promised her dignity during death. In Chapter Six, William tries a new method of pain control and his spirits are lifted as he once again has some control in his life as expressed in his statement, "I can't believe the power I have"(1, p.194). Chapter Seven lightly touches upon the death of AIDS patients, and the stigmatism's and rejection they may face, but also exhibits the patients' ability to control their moment of death. The joy which a family can gain when there is an open acceptance of a loved ones death is visible in Chapter Eight as John's f... ...very touching with a lot of strong emotion behind the words "I share with you the agony of your grief... the strength of caring, the warmth of one who seeks to understand the silent storm swept barrenness of so great a loss. This I do in quiet ways that , on your lonely path, you may not walk alone..." (1, p.294).Reading Appendix A, I strongly agreed with Jaffe and Ehrlich's recommendations for more mandatory classes about religion, cultural, and coping with dying patients classes in the medical curriculum, because we cannot truly expect our medical staff to respond appropriately to everyone's needs without offending certain religious and cultural beliefs if we do not help them take a step in the right direction.In summary, my overall opinion of this book All Kinds of Love: Experiencing Hospice, by Carolyn Jaffe and Carol H. Ehrlich was excellent. This book challenged my morals and changed my views about in home care. It's reassuring that this kind of care is available not only for myself, but also for the people I love. Bibliography Ehrlich, Carol H., and Carolyn Jaffe (1997). All Kinds of Love: Experiencing Hospice. Amityville, New York: Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.