Republished: Death from the Perspective of a Hospice Nurse with Hadley Vlahos

TRIGGER WARNING This episode covers sensitive subject matter and is not suitable for all listeners. If this topic could be a trigger for you, listen to this episode with a friend, a sibling, a loved one or a parent so you can talk about any emotions that come up for you. The contents of this episode are not intended to replace therapy and should not be taken as such. If you need immediate help, please call the crisis hotline listed below in our resources.

I know how challenging the holidays can be for those of you who are grieving. So this year, for the last three weeks of December, we will be re-running some of our most popular and helpful episodes on grief and loss.

Have you ever thought about what it looks and feels like when someone is nearing the end of their life and will be crossing over soon?

In this re-run episode, I speak with Nurse Hadley Vlahos, a registered nurse working in hospice care, and a mom, wife, and soon-to-be author from the New Orleans area.

At just barely 20 years old Hadley became a mom, a single mom, and left her dreams of being a writer behind to pursue a more stable career path of becoming a registered nurse.

After a year of working in the hospital and a nursing home, she felt immensely drawn to hospice. She has cared for hundreds, if not thousands, of patients at the end of their life in the most intimate setting - their own home.

In 2019, Hadley and her family moved to a new city, away from everything and everyone she had ever known. After feeling pretty lonely, her husband suggested connecting with people on social media. So, she picked up the camera in early 2020 and started talking to it like a friend, telling stories from her work day. She has reached over one million other people and helps ease anxiety around death.

Listen in as we talk about:
Why Hadley shifted into being a hospice nurse
How being a hospice nurse has shifted her perspective of death and dying
The lessons she learned from her dying patients
How she thinks about life now
The power of social media when it comes to community and sharing our stories about loss

Resources mentioned in this episode:
https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Mining-Ri...

Grief Hotline:
https://www.griefresourcenetwork.com/...


Connect with Hadley here:
Instagram:   / nurse.hadley  
TikTok:   / nursehadley  
www.nursehadley.com

Connect with Susan
  / susan.casey  
  / susan-e-casey-101187148084982  
   / @rockyourshine  
https://rockyourshine.com/