Chosen Moments: a Reflective Journey Illustrating Terminally Ill Patients Choosing the Moment to Die

Abstract

In this project the author reveals how she is observing and thinking as she cares for people who are dying. She records her reflections and insights and most profoundly reveals that there is life right up to the moment of death, having observed terminally ill patients choosing the precise moment to die. She describes her observations of these moments by using poetry and stories, and explores the implications for her practice as a result. The author presents her reflections using an individualistic, reflective and exploratory perspective which is informed by the work of nursing scholars; Taylor (2000), Benner (1984) and Johnstone (1999). This paper is framed using the metaphors of a journey and a window to indicate the reflective process that the author used to journal her observations in practice over time. This offers a professional and personal record of the author's insights.