I am a mom to three amazing children, a wife, a registered nurse, a Certified End-of-Life doula, an Elder Care Doula, & a Care Consultant. As a former cardiac & hospice nurse, I have seen the worst of deaths & the best of deaths. When I began my nursing career in 2000, I felt the calling to lean more into the hospice arena. In 2006 I became a stay-at-home mom yet but that calling never went away.  As a hospice volunteer, I have made grief calls to families during the first year after their loved one died.  & intermittently worked on my Hospice and Palliative Nurse (CHPN) certification, but I felt there was something more. 

     On the cardiac floor, I saw many codes, most with an outcome of death. I got the privilege of giving after-death care and helping the distraught families, but it was so hurried I felt there was not enough time to be with them.

     As a hospice nurse, I was able to educate families on many things, including the physical stages of end-of-life. I was able to be with those families as their loved ones passed away. I was able to love on the patient & family, hold their hands, hug them if they wanted, & just set a sacred place so that it calmed the chaos around death. Yet, hospice nurses are "case managers" and have many patients. I recently learned that the average time the nurse spends with the patient & family educating them is ONE hour a week. Since the median length of stay in hospice is 17 days the families are not getting the education they need to ensure that the family can care for a dying loved one.

     This is where death doulas come in. We can reiterate the teaching without time constraints, spend more time with the family & their dying, allow the family members to be family members as we help with the caretaking. Our patients and families become like our own. 

      Death is not talked about enough, and if it is there are many misconceptions and negativeness around it for it is the number one fear in the US. Hospice isn't talked about enough, and its also surrounded by negativeness with talk as if they are "giving up" or death is imminent.  At the time of a terminal diagnosis is THE time to start the hospice journey. Just like hospice takes into account the whole person, as does death doulas. We embody a non-medical holistic type of care - spiritually, emotionally, and physically.

     Together we can break the stigma of hospice by starting the conversation of how death can be a more positive event for all.

     Contact me for a free 30-minute ZOOM or telephone consultation and discuss how I can help you throughout your loved ones' dying process. I am here to help set sacred space, to calm the chaos, and to bring love to your family with no judgment. I look forward to working with you. 

What training was done?

International Doulagivers Institute, is a globally recognized institute that provides the highest leve of education and certification for professional Death Doulas. 

Suzanne O'Brien is a registered nurse who has worked most of her career in either Hospice (end-of-life care) and/or Oncology (cancer care).

She has had the honor and privilege to have personally worked at the bedside with over one thousand end of life patients and their families, from all different cultures, backgrounds, and nationalities. 

In addition to being the creator and founder of Doulagviers Institute, she is also a founding member of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organizations (NHPCO) End of Life Doula Council, and a founding member and former Vice President t of the National End of Life Doula Alliance.