NCW Libraries

Medicine has triumphed in modern times, transforming birth, injury, and infectious disease from harrowing to manageable. But in the inevitable condition of aging and death, the goals of medicine seem too frequently to run counter to the interest of the human spirit. Nursing homes, preoccupied with safety, pin patients into railed beds and wheelchairs. Hospitals isolate the dying, checking for vital signs long after the goals of cure have become moot....

"An ICU and Palliative Care specialist featured in the Netflix documentary Extremis offers a framework for a better way to exit life that will change our medical culture at the deepest level In medical school, no one teaches you how to let a patient die. Jessica Zitter became a doctor because she wanted to be a hero. She elected to specialize in critical care--to become an ICU physician--and imagined herself swooping in to rescue patients from the...

Cuando la muerte se avecina, es común que los individuos y sus familias encuentren refugio en creencias, símbolos o plegarias con el objetivo de encontrar alivio y sanación, lo cual da paso a la manifestación consciente o inconsciente de una espiritualidad, cuyo cuidado en el ámbito médico en muchas ocasiones se daba por sentado, dejándole a los religiosos que asumieran esta responsabilidad. No obstante, esta indiferencia u omisión en asistir...

"An inspiring, informative, and practical guide to navigating end of life issues, by a groundbreaking expert in the field and the New York Times bestselling author of Knocking on Heaven's Door. In the mid-1400s, an unnamed Catholic monk composed a popular self-help book called Ars Moriendi, or The Art of Dying. Written in Latin, this medieval death manual taught people how to navigate the trials of the deathbed, using simple rituals of repentance,...

Since Its Beginning, Buddhism has been intimately concerned with confronting and understanding death and dying. Indeed, the tradition emphasizes turning toward the realities of sickness, old age, and death-and using those very experiences to develop wisdom and liberating compassion. In recent decades, Buddhist chaplains and caregivers all over the world have been drawing on this tradition to contribute greatly to the development of modern palliative...

Framed by the author's personal odyssey as a caregiver and richly informed by the inspiring and poignant tales of others, Caregiving explores medical and financial problems, all aspects of spirituality, and such issues as depression, stress, housing, home care, and end-of-life concerns. A rare blend of powerful storytelling and practical information, Caregiving is a revelation.

A palliative care doctor on the front lines of hospital care illuminates one of the most important and controversial ethical issues of our time on his quest to transform care through the end of life. It is harder to die in this country than ever before. Statistics show that the vast majority of Americans would prefer to die at home, yet many of us spend our last days fearful and in pain in a healthcare system ruled by high-tech procedures and a philosophy...

"There is an unspoken dark side of American medicine--keeping patients alive at all costs. Two thirds of Americans die in healthcare institutions tethered to machines and tubes, even though research indicates that most prefer to die at home in comfort, surrounded by loved ones. The question How do you want to live? must be posed to the seriously ill because they deserve to choose. If doctors explain options--including the choice to forego countless...

In a heartbeat, you or someone you love may be rapidly transformed from a life of health and wellness to one of critical illness. Over the past four decades, Ronald Kotler, M.D., has treated patients who have become critically ill. He has seen patients recover and go on to lead long, healthy lives. He has also treated patients who did not survive. In this medical memoir, Dr. Kotler takes readers to the frontlines of caring for critically ill patients...