Healthcare Workers and Patient Expectations of Death Essay

Healthcare Workers and Patient Expectations of Death - Essay Example Focus is on information gathered from a chaplain of the Sisters of Charity Hospice for the elderly and terminally ill. Interview with the Chaplain Fr. R.J. is a 30 year-old Roman Catholic priest, on study leave abroad from his chaplaincy with the Sisters of Charity Hospice for the Aged in Manila, Philippines. He explained that the Hospice was set up in the 1980s, and it provides healthcare services for sick and dying elders. The Sisters of Charity can be traced to the charismatic Mother Teresa of India, who spread her Christian humanitarian mission in peasant countries of the world. Asked about his perceptions of the work of the Sisters of Charity in Manila, Fr. R.J. said they provide medical and humanitarian care to elders who have been abandoned by their poverty-stricken families. As to his knowledge about the expectations of death among the patients, Fr. R.J. stressed his spiritual role in hearing confessions and counselling. He added to say that foremost among the apprehensions o f the elders were their fear of the unknown in passing awayfrom life, feeling of loss and isolation from their family, and the final pain of dying added to the continuing pain caused by terminal ailment.