Send us Fan Mail

What do nurses, families, and caregivers need to understand about death, dying, and end-of-life care?

In this thoughtful conversation, we speak with Dr. Marianne Matzo, a longtime researcher and educator whose work has explored gerontology, palliative care, nursing, assisted dying, and the ways we prepare for death.

Dr. Matzo shares how an early connection with older adults led her toward gerontology and eventually toward deeper questions about death and dying. Her research also examined the experiences of nurses involved in intentionally ending a patient's life, raising difficult questions about assisted dying, nursing ethics, patient suffering, and the responsibilities of caregivers.

The conversation also explores the often-overlooked human side of palliative and end-of-life care: the importance of listening, compassion, communication, and simply being present with someone who is dying.

Together, we ask why we tend to wait until people are seriously ill before teaching them how to talk about death.

They discuss:

• What palliative care really means
• The role of nurses in end-of-life care
• Assisted dying and the ethical questions surrounding it
• Why death education matters for everyone, not just healthcare professionals
• How to talk about death and dying with family members
• The importance of compassionate nursing care
• Aging, death, grief, and the human experience of dying
• Dr. Matzo's Everyone Dies project and its resources for families

This episode is for nurses, caregivers, death-care professionals, educators, writers, artists, and anyone who has ever wondered how we can become better prepared for one of life's most difficult and universal experiences.

The central question isn't simply how we die. It's how we care for one another while we are dying.

Every One Dies website
The Everyone Dies Book

Support the show

We very much want to hear your thoughts. Please join us on Substack for our community chat.

This podcast helps anyone dealing with loss. It can guide you with end-of-life planning and death-positive resources.

Check out our introductory episode to learn more about Annalouiza, Wakil, and our vision/mission to normalize and destigmatize conversations about death, dying, grief, and loss.

You can find us on SubStack, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and BlueSky. You are also invited to subscribe to support us financially. Anyone who supports us at any level will have access to Premium content, special online meet-ups, and one-on-one time with Annalouiza or Wakil.

And we would love your feedback and want to hear your stories. You can email us at endoflifeconvo@gmail.com.

We want to be transparent that we use AI tools to help us with titles, show notes, editing, and introductions.

...