National Nurses United

Dame Cicely Saunders 9/1/06 12:11 PM Page 13 to both alleviate the suffering of the dying and as a center for research and education. This tireless woman began to fund raise. She also fell in love again during this period with Antoni Michniewicz, a patient who illustrated to her what death could be like if surrounded by loving care. "I loved him very much," she later recalled. "He taught me what it was like to be dying and to be bereaved; he showed me the achievement of a good death—that as the body becomes weaker, so the spirit becomes stronger." On his death, Saunders fell into what she later described as "pathological grieving." Being the woman she was, she used the depths of her grief to summon more strength. His death inspired her to choose St. Christopher's, the patron saint of travellers, as the name of her hospice. A fitting name, as Saunders firmly believed that dying was the final stage of life's journey. Saunders was now drawing up plans for her hospice and recruiting others to her cause. Her brother found her a site on which to build the hospice and in 1963 she was awarded a £30,000 grant from the King's Fund, an independent charitable foundation working for better health, to begin construction. Her ceaseless fundraising brought more money to her cause. Four years later, in 1967, St. Christopher's opened its doors with a 54-bed in-patient unit and a home care service. A research and study center were soon added, cementing the hospice's reputation as the worldwide leader in palliative care. She also met her third Polish love during this time, an artist named Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, whom she eventually married when she was 61 and he 79 and in poor health. She gave him constant nursing care as he died peacefully in St Christopher's Hospice. On his death, he thanked her and told her he was "completely happy." Saunders assumed the role of medical director of the hospice until 1985, when she stepped down to become chair of the board. She remained active in the hospice movement into her eighties. Of course, Saunders did not achieve her vision without possessing qualities that many nurses recognise as essential in advocating for patients: She was tough, authoritative, and, when necessary, downright difficult. However, Saunders retained her vision of caring, inspiring thousands of nurses with her actions and words. She never lost her affinity with nurses and saw their role as pivotal in the caring process. As she has said, "Palliative care stems from the recognition of the potential at the end of life for discovering and for giving... No member of the interdisciplinary team is more central to making these discoveries possible than the nurse." Many forces shaped the direction of Saunders' life. Her early social awkwardness gave her empathy for the underdog. Her privileged but unhappy background taught her that there is more to life than material gain and social status. Her chance meetings and love of compassionate men who needed end-of-life care gave her the courage to fight for what she believed was right. In turn, she has been a force in shaping the direction of many others' lives for the better. Following her retirement as St. Christopher's medical director, Saunders lectured and travelled extensively, taking her vision and personal inspiration across the globe. In 2002 she established the Cicely Saunders Foundation, dedicated to researching and promoting palliative care. Saunders never stopped fund raising and in 2005 was awarded a grant to take her work to Africa for the first time in her organization's history. The money will support five palliative care centers in Uganda and South Africa. Currently, the majority of the 26 million people who live with HIV in sub–Saharan Africa are unable to access pain control and die in severe pain. These five centers will help train carers and families across the region. SEPTEMBER 2006 Dame Cicely Saunders receives her Doctorate of Medicine from Dr. Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1977. OCTOBER 7, 2006 IS WORLD HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE DAY Events planned in more than 70 countries around the world Thousands of people around the world will be staging events Oct. 7 to raise awareness of and fund raise for hospice and palliative care services locally, nationally, and internationally to mark this annual, global event. The theme this year is "Access to Care for All," highlighting that millions of people who desperately need care at the end of life still aren't getting it. Around the world, over one million people die every week. 34.9 million people in the world currently have HIV/AIDS, and 3.1 million people died of AIDS in 2004. There are currently six million cancer deaths and over 10 million new cases of cancer every year, numbers expected to rise to 15 million by 2020. An estimated 100 million people could benefit from basic palliative care every year. This number consists of 33 million people dying (60 percent of the total number dying in the world each year) and their 66 million family members, companions, or carers (based on a conservative estimate of two people giving care and support for every person that dies). The actual number of people that receive palliative care is far lower. Although subSaharan Africa has twice as many deaths per capita annually as North America, it has only 1.5 percent of global palliative care resources compared to 55 percent for North America. To find out more and get involved in World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2006, visit www.worldday.org, or email worldday@helpthehospices.org.uk. SOURCE: HELP THE HOSPICES (WWW.HELPTHEHOSPICES.ORG.UK) W W W. C A L N U R S E S . 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