2011 AJN Book of the Year Winner in both Gerontologic Nursing and Hospice and Palliative Care!



The book is easy to read and is essential to all who work and care for those at the end of life.

--David Shields, RN, MSN, QTTT
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Capital University




The book is thought provoking and, if you are like me, you will be assessing (consciously or subconsciously) how good you or your service are at providing holistic care around the time of death. It deserves to be widely read and I hope it starts many a conversation.

IAHPC Newsletter



[This book] is a gem. It is a rare balance of an interesting read with an incredible integration of factual information. I intend to share it in my long term care circles...A wonderful contribution!

Charlotte Eliopoulos,RN, MPH, PhD
Executive Director
American Association for Long Term Care Nursing



Every once in a long while a short, succinct book comes along that awakens our senses and motivates us to action. [This] is one such book. It cuts right to the chase to offer a new, innovative change for an old, outmoded rite of passage.

Barbara Dossey, PhD, RN, AHN-BC, FAAN
Co-Director, Nightingale Initiative for Global Health, Canada and Virginia
Director, Holistic Nursing Consultants, New Mexico
(From the Foreword)




This professional clinical guide presents nursing administrators and nurses in acute care agencies, nursing homes, hospice, and palliative care settings with detailed implementation strategies for accommodating dying persons and their loved ones as they make the transition from physical life. It presents the need for and the development of the concept: Golden Room concept: a place for dying that facilitates a dignified, peaceful, and profound experience for dying persons and their loved ones.

This book presents a practical solution on multiple levels that will benefit all involved-patient, family, nurses, administrators, policy makers, and insurance companies. It presents the theoretical frameworks for end-of-life care and how the Golden Room concept fits into these frameworks.

Published in partnership with the Watson Caring Science Institute, this unique resource:

Advocates the use of Golden Rooms, which provide dignified, private, and safe settings for death and dying
Presents various cases that illustrate the need for a dignified death, as well as strategies on how to provide for this dignified death
Provides questions of concern after each case scenario, suitable for class discussion or personal reflection
Offers cost-effective end-of-life solutions for families, the medical establishment, and insurance companies