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This week, Rayna Neises, your host, talks with Maureen Kures.  Maureen has been a registered nurse for over 35 years and helps families as an End-of-Life Coach.  Her passion is to assist them through facilitating decision-making, documentation, and discussions of end-of-life transitions. She draws from her vast experience from the bedside point of view, home care nurse, and family caregiver for her father.  She has a big heart for caregivers and shares the following:

•  Having the conversations ahead of time can help you avoid making decisions leading from pure emotion.
• End-of-life conversations should happen annually.  Think of it as a gift and have it sometime during your birthday month.  The biggest gift we can give is the gift of knowing.
• There have been many improvements in comfort care.  Stopping treatment does not mean stopping care.
•  Choose a health care agent who can honor your wishes no matter what.
• Have the courage to start the conversations well before they are ever needed and bring everyone together as a family.
• Everyone should take the time to have an end-of-life conversation with their physician letting them know their wishes and permitting them to follow them.
• Visit www.startthetalknow.com to find “Speaking of Dying, Scare Ya to Death: Seven Prompts to Get the Conversation Started.