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One might wonder how a person becomes interested in such a line of work as being an End-of-Life Doula. In my case I think my journey began very early in life preparing me for this path.
As a young child I was acquainted closely with the Elder population because my Mother cared for them professionally in our home.
I remember the joy of being in close relation with women of age who had a lifetime of journeys, stories, pictures and memories to share with such a young girl as I.
In my teens I was blessed to actually be a sometimes companion to the very dear neighborhood woman who had been my babysitter as a small child in her older age as she was nearing the end of her life. What a special honor that was for us both.
My desire as a young girl was to go into Nursing as my Mother had been of sort, to the Aging. And well I did.
When in Nursing school I was curious specifically about Hospice Nursing and so enquired about it to my Nursing Instructor. She informed me that there was a definite demand for Hospice nurses but that it took a special kind of person to be one because it wouldn’t be an easy field to practice in. I put that idea on the shelf for a while.
Beginning Nursing in a small Hospital on the Medical Surgical floor where also the Terminally Ill were treated, I found rather soon great discouragement in the way people had to live out End of Life in a Hospital. My charge Nurse suggested I might rather be in Hospice Nursing. That very week I went for an Interview at the local Hospice Facility and began my Hospice career two weeks later.
Being a Hospice nurse for several years I felt truly honored and privileged to be in a role of caring for a person at such a sacred and special time in their life being at the End of Life. I also found it fulfilling to assist in teaching and guiding the family and loved ones in the dying process of their loved one soon to pass.
My career took an additional path for another interest in Medical Massage. I became a licensed Practitioner in private practice for over 31 years now while continuing over 36 years of Private Duty Hospice Nursing.
At this juncture of my life… full circle.. I am now a Certified Death Doula combining a lifetime of experience working with people of all ages from all walks of life.
I have found myself once again at the bedside and in the lives of those caring for people at End of Life.
Doris La Vere began her exposure to End of Life experiences at a very young age. From the age of six through twelve, her Mother cared for elderly people in their home.
These “family” members, as they became known, were part of her everyday life. She became accustomed to being one of the “young ones “in the household who provided companionship and care in small matters of everyday living for the aging.
As time passed over the years of her childhood Doris found great joy in being part of the lives of these older people in the last few years of their life.
As a teenager she took the place of her Mother in caring for an elderly woman in her own home when Doris’ mother fell ill.
By the time she was a young adult she was sure her life profession would be in the Nursing field. And so it became.
She started a career in Nursing in Medical Surgical Nursing initially but within less than a year of caring for the terminally ill, on her unit , she found her move in Nursing would be as a Hospice Nurse.
” I consider being a Hospice Nurse an honor and a privilege to be a part of the end of a person”s life on Earth”, is how she would answer the question, ” Isn’t it hard to be a Hospice Nurse?”
Doris has been a previously full time Hospice nurse , then private duty Hospice Nurse caring for people at the end of life in their homes for 36 years. Presently the non-medical role of End of Life Doula is her occupation as well as also in Private practice as a Medical Massage Practitioner in Wilmington North Carolina for thirty one years.
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