Published on November 2, 2022
While life is not just about time, we certainly think about time and quality of life when we confront our mortality. Sitting by a loved one’s bed in a nicely accommodated room at Alive Hospice Nashville Residence, I started thinking of valuable insights garnered from Dr. Atul Gwande’s book Being Mortal about how to help people have good days at the end of life. Hospice care is one of the best ways we can provide quality in the final months of life.
Hospices provide in-home, end-of-life care that includes medical management, nursing care, education about the variety of resources that exist to help individuals and families during the most crucial moments of their lives, and more.
If you live in Middle Tennessee, you are blessed in that you have a multitude of cutting-edge healthcare resources available, but you would have to look far and wide to find care and a residential facility to compare to Alive’s.
As a nurse with a sub-specialty in palliative care, I work treating the symptoms of chronic illnesses upstream from hospice, reducing hospitalizations and educating people about the crucial decisions that they can make in advance of end-of-life that will direct the treatment that they desire.
Since my family and extended family have been well served by Alive, I will tell you that your loved one and those you consider your family will be treated with respect, and care will be delivered in a dignified manner.
In their residences, an aura of peace exists from the well-trained, experienced and competent staff that guide you through the processes of end-of-life. Questions that can be answered are. The whole person is treated. Speaking for myself, you feel love as you receive compassionate care.
In a world full of challenges, so much good exists in Nashville. I am extremely grateful for Alive Hospice.
Gary W. Dodd
Gary is a licensed and board-certified nurse practitioner with a sub-specialty in Palliative Care through Vanderbilt University Graduate School of Nursing.