For the doctors and nurses at the south London hospice it had been a wrenching weekend. Twelve patients had died between Friday and Sunday nights, and by Monday morning death's wide swath had left the staff physically and emotionally exhausted. It was time for a tall, somewhat stout, white-haired woman to provide the reassurance of her presence: standing in a stairwell, in the path of grief-bruised nurses and doctors, greeting each with a jovial smile and concerned questions: "How was your weekend?" "Are you exhausted?" "Are you coping?"
If there is one thing that Cicely Saunders knows about, it is coping....
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
