"With hospice, it's no longer curative care, it's comfort care," said Josolowitz, 54, a hospice nurse at Children's. "It's support; it's helping people live out their wishes for their final months, weeks and days.
"It's what kind of journey they want."
Each hospice team -- nurses, a chaplain and a social worker -- works with the patients and their families to give them some sense of control.
Josolowitz sees her role as a "midwife on the other side," helping families through the journey from diagnosis to death.
"I pray to the universe to make this a meaningful time, a pain-free time for the child," Josolowitz said. "I send prayers that I will be of assistance, that I can make the child comfortable."
The job takes a toll on her as she watches children slip away and families struggle under the weight of grief. She looks for moments of joy, compassion and love to take with her after a patient dies.
She keeps mementos of patients, their parents and siblings in a drawer.
"I never want to forget these families," Josolowitz said. "I never could forget them."
Friday, January 23, 2009
Death Perceptions Series
On January 11, The Columbus Dispatch began a series covering professionals who deal with death every day as part of their job. The accompanying video series features interviews with a pediatric hospice nurse, a child-mortality expert, a trauma surgeon, a paramedic, a funeral home director, a youth pastor, a pathologist, a homicide detective, an organ-donor coordinator, and a state highway patrol trooper. The series will be complete on February 2. An excerpt from the interview with Beth Josolowitz, a pediatric hospice nurse:
