When my grandmother was in the last stages of cancer, hospice was the best thing for my family and my grandmother. Although my grandmother was very sick, I felt so much better seeing her in her own home than in the hospital. This may sound strange because when you imagine someone dying from cancer you picture him or her in the hospital receiving aggressive treatment. But this was not the case for my grandmother. We knew that the inevitable was going to happen and we wanted my grandmother to die as peacefully as possible. This is the essence of Hospice. "We know we can alleviate human suffering and help relieve mental and emotional anguish. It is our hope that, during the process, we can also further the cause of death with dignity and makes a contribution in the struggle for human rights. Compassion in dying responds to a moral imperative which can no

ery $2.26 spent by Medicare on traditional methods of care, only $1.00 was spent to provide hospice care." [Buckingham 1998:87]

"Hospice can also open the door to talking about difficult issues. Hospice workers do not tell their patients how to die or force them to talk about death. Instead, they provide a sounding board, an opportunity, and a safe haven for patients to talk about whatever is most important to them - even subjects that their family and friends are afraid to discuss." [Beresford 1993:6] In closing, the hospice and hospice workers exist to enable the patient to die in a comfortable and dignified manner.

After the birth of hospice in London in the 1960's, the hospice movement spread to the United States. ""He first hospice in the United States was established in New Haven, Connecticut in 1974." [HTML 1 DocumentEndcodingutf-8] That hospice still exists and has helped spread the hospice movement throughout the US. "Today more than 3,100 hospice programs in the United States including Puerto Rico, and Guam. Hospice cared for nearly 540,000 people in the United States in 1998."[HTML 1 DocumentEncondingutf-8] .This proves that more and more families are opting to make death more comfortable.

f my grandmother would have been more painful. Hospice allows my grandmother to be with us, her family, in a comfortable and familiar setting, enabling everyone to realize that she would be gone and we would have closure by seeing her die in no pain.

longer be denied by humanists and other compassionate people." [Dority 1993] Without hospice, I feel that the passing o!

There are two costs for the care of hospice. The first is an emotional cost. "When a loved one dies, for example, there will be those left behind who increase their use of medications and/or alcohol to escape the pain of their loss."[Buckingham 1996'83] However for the family who has lost a loved one through hospice, the emotional loss is prepared for and hospice helps the family to cope which is priceless in the long run. Basically, hospice enables the families to achieve closure and deal with the pain of their loss in a more gradual and positive way. There is also a monetary cost of hospice. To a person not familiar with hospice, they may look at the program and the quality of care and expect it to be very costly. However, this is not the case. ""He results of a study of the effect of the hospice program an Medicare Part A expenditures during the first three years of the program reported that Medicare saved $1.26 for every dollar spent on hospice care. That is for ev!

"Hospice is care for the dying."[Beresford 1993;3] The purpose of hospice is to work with the terminally ill and their families. Hospice workers do not just care for the patients; it is much more than this. The hospice nurse must become a part of the family and this is very important. Not only is the hospice nurse in the home to care for the needs of the patient but they are also there to comfort and talk to the families of the patients. A hospice patient, as a rule, has no chance for recovery, it is helpful for the family members to h

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