History Of Hospice Nursing -- North Carolina Nurses Making An Impact

Providing care for dying people has existed in cultures around the globe and throughout recorded history. During the Middle Ages, Christian religious orders established networks of hospices across Europe, in particular along the routes of the Crusades. These hospices were grounded in spiritual care and monks and nuns fed, clothed, and cleaned their dying patients. In the 1960s, these centuries-old institutions were modernized and enhanced by the work of a nurse in England, Cicely Saunders. Wanting to do all she could for those near death, she became a physician so she could offer unfettered service to those in need.<p></p>