Nurse reveals ‘Miracle of Hospice’ in bookDate: 8/23/2013 SOUTH HADLEY – Cathy Truehart of Southampton, the author of “The Miracle of Hospice: A Personal Journey of a Hospice Nurse,” will read from her book on Aug. 22 at Gaylord Memorial Library, 47 College St., at 6:30 p.m.
Truehart is a volunteer and bereavement coordinator in Enfield, Conn., and her first book tells the stories of Hospice patients she worked with, most of whom lived in Western Massachusetts.
The theme of Truehart’s book is that Hospice is an invaluable service that is designed for people with a life-threatening illness with a prognosis of six months or less to live.
“It is unfortunate that so many people wait until the last hours, days or weeks of life to sign on to Hospice,” Truehart said. “The underlying thread that is woven throughout this book is that Hospice is about quality of life, and it is something to be revered, rather than feared.”
“I tried to make this book appealing to the reader by using personal stories of the courageous people I have cared for and worked with over the years,” Truehart said. “We all must face death at some point in our lives – our own death and the deaths of those we love. The more we are able to embrace the reality of death and be aware of our options, the more prepared and less fearful we will be when death comes knocking at our door.”
“The Miracle of Hospice” is divided into three sections: The first is an account of an actual day in the life of a Hospice nurse that Truehart experienced 10 years ago, inspiring her to write the book.
The second section revolves around Truehart’s spiritual journey and involvement with holistic healing modalities, and the third offers background on Hospice.
“What I most want readers to walk away with from my book is the value of life and death,” Truehart said. “Death can, and should be, a sacred passage from this life to the next. Hospice is about quality of life and assisting patients and their families on the journey that we all must one day take.”
Truehart has a nursing degree from Worcester City Hospital School of Nursing, a bachelor’s degree in public health nursing from California State University and a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Leslie College.
She has also completed certification programs in holistic nursing, neurolinguistic programming, reflexology and advanced Reiki.
She lives in Southampton with her husband of 30 years, Richard Truehart, and is the mother of Rachel Rose and Crystal Rose Truehart.
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