Review by Dman_1996 -- Honest Endings by Katherine Cullen

[Damian Keyes]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Honest Endings" by Katherine Cullen.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Hospice facilities are designated for terminally ill patients to provide them with the best comfort till the last days, weeks, or months of their life. Honest Endings details the real-life experience of Katherine Cullen's 3-year tenure as a hospice social worker. Katherine wrote this book to give insight into the hospice system, her patient’s life, and how she dealt mentally and emotionally in this role.

Before becoming a hospice social worker, Katherine had her own psychotherapist private practice for 35 years. Wanting a change in her life, Katherine saw an opening for a hospice social worker in the newspaper and decided that she could use her previous skills and transfer that to her new position. This story is centered on the patients that the author encountered (like Greg or Tanya) and how they shaped her life for the better.

Honest Endings showcases how nurses and social workers at these hospice facilities deal with back-to-back deaths of close patients. Katherine is used to helping people by becoming emotionally attached to them, but she learns things are different in this profession. Get this book and find out the same things that were new to me about the life of the workers, patients, and families of these patients in these facilities.

The subject of this book is very heavy and covers death. I would recommend this book to individuals who have a relative that is in the last stages of their life. This book is a wonderful guide of processes that will come up in conversation with people who are dying. If you’re the type of person who wants their ailing family member to pass peacefully at home, then I would not recommend this book to you.

There were so many things that I liked about this book. Learning about the hospice system overall intrigued me to read this book. I’m young and I knew a relative that was in hospice before she died, so now I know more about the topic. I loved following Katherine’s journey at the hospice facility because she never worked in this field before, so she was learning as she goes.

I disliked nothing about this book. This was a rather short book, so I felt like I wanted more in-depth information about certain patients Katherine mentioned for a brief second.

I’m more than happy to give this book a 4 out of 4 rating. Katherine Cullen wrote a well-written book that is free from any grammar or spelling errors. There is only one instance of profanity in this entire book and absolutely no sexual discussions or acts. This quick read of 63 pages covers every question and answer that one might have about hospice care. If you’re 18 years and older, please, go out and get this book.

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Honest Endings
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