A Nurse Reflects on the Privilege of Caring for Dying Patients

September 30, 2015

(NPR) – Brown is the author of The Shift, which follows four patients during the course of a 12-hour shift in a hospital cancer ward. A former oncology nurse, Brown now provides patients with in-home, end-of-life care. Talking — and listening — are both important parts of her job as a palliative care nurse. This is especially true on the night shift. “Night and waking up in the night can bring a clarity,” she says. “It can be a clarity of being able to face your fears, it can be a clarity of being overwhelmed by your fears, and either way, I feel like it’s really a privilege to be there for people.”