Caregiving Help Library

Bill of Rights for the Dying

Continued

Thirty-three years ago Elisabeth Kubler-Ross brought lessons from the dying. We have not done our homework. Nor has healthcare met her challenge, "Not to have professionals for the dying but to train personnel to feel comfortable in facing such difficulties." Yes. Perhaps the dying do need a Bill of Rights.

The Dying Person's Bill of Rights

The following "Bill of Rights" was created at a workshop (The Terminally Ill Patient and the Helping Person) in Lansing Michigan, sponsored by the South Western Michigan Inservice Education Council and conducted by Amelia Barbus (1975), Associate Professor of Nursing, Wayne State University:

I have the right to be treated as a living human being until I die.

I have the right to maintain a sense of hopefulness however changing its focus may be.

I have the right to express my feelings and emotions about my approaching death in my own way.

I have the right to participate in decisions concerning my care.

I have the right to expect continuing medical and nursing attention even though cure goals must be changed to comfort goals.

I have the right not to die alone.

I have the right to be free from pain.

I have the right to have my questions answered honestly.

I have the right not to be deceived.

I have the right to have help from and for my family in accepting my death..

I have the right to die in peace and with dignity.

I have the right to retain my individuality and not be judged for my decisions which may be contrary to the beliefs of others.

I have the right to be cared for by caring, sensitive, knowledgeable people who will attempt to understand my needs and will be able to gain some satisfaction in helping me face my death.

The American Journal of Nursing, January 1975, vol. 75, no. 1, p. 99 lists three more ....

I have the right to be cared for by those who can maintain a sense of hopefulness, however changing this might be.

I have the right to expect that the sanctity of the human body will be respected after death.

I have the right to discuss and enlarge my religious and/or spiritual experiences, whatever these may mean to others.

Linda J. Austin writes from experience as a nursing assistance and a family caregiver. "When I was assigned my first hospice case, I found my place in life." Retired from several careers, Linda is studying creative art therapy.

«previous