Abstract
The paper is written from the first person perspective of someone who is both a social worker and a Muslim. The writer is a social worker who is discussing her perspective on death and dying, from the standpoint of her faith and her personal experiences; she recently lost two family members in an unspecified manner only six months before this paper was written.

From the Paper
"I believe that no matter what a person is taught about death and dying, his or her personal feelings and experiences are going to determine that person's feelings about those topics. A person's death, after all, is one of the most profoundly personal experiences there is in life. While other people can actively help someone with the act of coming into this life, in most cases the same person approaches death alone. Although everyone has these feelings and experiences, however, not everyone has the luxury of being able to let them affect the manner in which they live their life or..."

Tags:death, dying, muslim

Abstract
This paper examines the history of Methodism, with an emphasis on death and dying and the evolution of the Methodist funeral through the years since Wesley.

From the Paper
"The Methodist tradition has much to say about death and dying. Both in Methodist history and in Methodism's beliefs about death, dying and the afterlife, the religion is one that addresses the prospect of death positively. Believing Methodists view death as an entrance to heaven and a blissful eternal life in the presence of God rather than as a passage to be feared. Nevertheless, from its early beginnings under John Wesley, the Methodist tradition, particularly with reference to funerals, has evolved substantially. This paper..."

Tags:Methodist, Wesley, Asbury, death, dying, funeral, scripture, Bible, Christian

Abstract
This paper deals with death and dying and the decisions that have to be made at such a time. It deals with advance directives and surrogates and substitutes who make these decisions when the patient is no longer able. It looks at the patient's rights and how the ultimate decision on treatment is theirs. The writer also discusses how important advance directives are to ensure their wishes are followed, if they are unable to speak for themselves.

From the Paper
"Elizabeth Kubler-Ross is credited with introducing the subject of death and dying as a legitimate subject for discussion in medical circles and the community as a whole and her book 'On Death and Dying' is required reading in most major nursing and medical schools. Kubler-Ross, herself a physician, began her pioneering work with the terminally ill at the University of Colorado Medical Center in Denver and her interest in death and dying was sparked by a visit to a concentration camp where thousands of children ... "

Tags:death, dying, decision-making

Abstract
The paper notes that with the aging baby boom generation, a large proportion of the population will be faced with complex end-of-life decisions. The paper further explains that this issue was chosen because nurses are being confronted with needless ethical dilemmas related to autonomy and client choice because they are not trained in culturally competent care. The paper discusses how Doorenbos and Wilson (2006) argue that dying patients and their families are entitled to compassionate and competent end-of-life care, but the care varies across cultures.

From the Paper
"The issue of cultural practices as they relate to death and dying was chosen for its pertinence to the contemporary society of North America. With the aging baby boom generation, a large proportion of the population will be faced with complex end-of-life decisions. More importantly, the issue was chosen because nurses are being confronted with needless ethical dilemmas related to autonomy and client choice because they are not trained in culturally competent care. Doorenbos and Wilson (2006) argue that dying patients and their families are entitled to compassionate and..."

Tags:culture, death, values

Abstract
This paper explains that the idea of death and dying is abhorrent; yet, in the case of the author's father, his dying and death was a process of renewal for him, for the author, for the author's mother, and siblings and members of the vast family of seventeen children into which his father was born. The author points out that he does fear death, not the actual act of dying, but knowing of the incompleteness it brings. The paper explains that Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's formalism on the stages in death and dying helped him to put his grief in a better context and to categorize his feelings.

Table of Content
Introduction
Individual Coping Strategies
Differential Treatment from Others
The Will to Live

From the Paper
"The concepts of heaven and hell have evolved over time. This extends for all major religions. Practitioners are admonished to seek good over evil for fear that they might face the fires of hell in the scary and graphic detail elaborately laid out by Dante in the "Inferno." It is not the hell fire and brimstone of the time of the awakening as Christian dogma evolved in the United States. Even the pope has spoken about heaven and hell actually being experienced here on earth, through how a person conducts his or her life. Going back to the differences between eastern and western thought of dying can be summed up in the concepts of Sogyal Rinpoche. In his "Tibetan Book of Living and Dying" he puts forth the idea that Tibetans believe that the best way to live ones life to the fullest is to spend every waking moment of it preparing to die. Such a morbid fascination with death would have no place in the western thought. And yet there is some truth to it."

Tags:renewal, process, family, incompleteness, stages

Abstract
This paper discusses how the subject of death and dying in Western industrialized nations is seen as taboo. The paper goes on to explain how attitudes towards death in Eastern cultures and traditions, on the other hand, are essentially different and that there is a greater integration and cultural acceptance of death, particularly in the Tibetan tradition. The paper then refers to various literary works on the subject to highlight various attitudes about death and dying.

From the Paper
"However, the process of sanitizing and sequestering death does not solve by any means the real and existential problem of death as the most inevitable and sure aspect of any individual's life. One cannot simply ignore death. As a result of the movement in Western Countries and cultures towards a materialistic and secular mode of existence, the fear of death and the end of life has in fact been exacerbated, rather then reduced. This has led to many psychological and philosophical issues that have tended to dominate cultural discourse in the last few decades. The fact that medical science is being shown to be incapable of dealing with many disease and causes of human death has also opened up the fault lines and questioned the scientific and medical attempts to sanitize and prevent the public from being concerned about death. "

Tags:existential, issues, Giddens, Lawrence, Mullin, Morrall, Mcnamara

Abstract
The writer raises the issue of having a friend as a nurse who seems to be falling apart on her job and she is thinking about taking a death and dying course. The writer would you recommend participating in such a course. The writer points out that nurses experience grief when they see patients die that they have taken care of in the past few weeks or even months. Further, the writer believes that encouraging her to take a death and dying course might make the difference in whether the nurse leaves her position and/or decides to take another career.

From the Paper
"You have a friend who is a nurse, and you notice the nurse is acting differently. The nurse is falling apart in her job working in the high mortality setting in her placement. She is thinking of leaving the profession of nursing but is deciding whether or not to take a death and dying course, do you advise her to take the course or not? Imagine taking care of patients day after day who are terminal and eventually die. Most nurses try not to show their feelings around patients and families."

Tags:nurse, onocology, grief

Abstract
This essay discusses the various perceptions and responses to death and dying across multiple cultures (American, Hindu, Buddhist, and Native American). The paper also applies Kubler-Ross' five stages of dying as a theoretical framework.

From the Paper
"This research explores the literature across cultures on death and dying in order to highlight the impact of culture on reactions to death and the dying process. A theoretical framework is established using Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's five stages of dying followed by a succinct discussion of the reactions and attitudes toward death and the dying process of four cultures: Buddhist Hindu, Native American and American. By illustrating the different reactions and attitudes toward death of these cultures it is revealed that..."

Tags:Kubler-Ross, grief, burial, mortality, reincarnation, celebrity, religion, Christianity, afterlife, family, gerontology, health care, advance directives, hospice

Abstract
This paper sheds light on the subject of symbolic language used by the dying people. It has been noticed that people on their deathbed often use terms, which highlights their awareness of their own death. The paper also focuses on process of death and dealing with the death of a loved one.

Abstract
This paper gives an account of the author's personal experience of watching a loved one die from cancer and how the victim of the cancer, as well as her loved ones, experienced the stages as outlined in Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's book, "On Death and Dying".

From the Paper
"Josianne was diagnosed with uterine cancer a year and a half ago, prompting a hysterectomy and subsequent radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Because the success rates for treatment of her particular cancer seemed relatively high, her friends and loved ones remained hopeful that Josianne, too, would be among the nearly 75% who survived the ordeal. Josianne, a lawyer in her late forties, was the most optimistic and didn't for a second feel that death was near. However, once her tract of radiation and chemo was over, doctors administered a series of tests, which revealed that the cancer had somehow spread into her lymph glands. The spread spelled almost certain death; once the cancer made its way into the lymphatic system, little could be done to halt its progress. We all watched on as tumors showed up in Josianne's cat scans, appearing in her lungs and colon and forcing her to have a colostomy and continual blood transfusions. Until that point, Josianne and her husband kept their hopes high that somehow she would overcome the illness and experience a spontaneous remission. However, her body began to deteriorate rapidly after a certain point; she could no longer eat and her kidneys began to fail."

Tags:shock, despair, calm, acceptance, denial, illness, cancer, anger