In her latest episode of Grave to Great, a podcast focused on tackling issues related to the end of life, host Tracy Wood welcomes Dr. Martina Harris, assistant dean of Nursing and Allied Health and Registered Nursing Program director at Chattanooga State Technical Community College, about the curriculum it uses to prepare nursing students to care for those at the end of life with compassion, dignity and respect.
In this episode, Ms. Wood invites Dr. Harris to share how the program at Chattanooga State is teaching nursing students to not only care for those at the end of life, but how to cope with the process themselves.
“We have found that students graduate and they have never actually cared for a patient in the active phase of death and dying.
We are trying to prevent those first experiences from being devastating experiences,” said Dr. Harris.
In her role at Chattanooga State, Dr. Harris has created a death and dying simulation that gives students a real-life look at caring for a patient in that stage of life. She hopes the program will equip students with the coping mechanisms needed to effectively process the emotions that accompany losing a patient.
“As a hospice professional, I can tell you just how important it is to hone your coping skills. Dr. Harris and her team are doing these young professionals a great service by preparing them for this inevitable part of life,” said Ms. Wood, host of Grave to Great and president & CEO of Alleo Health System, a Chattanooga-based family of hospice and palliative care providers across the Southeast.
Each week, Ms. Wood hosts guests on Grave to Great to tackle tough conversations around death and dying, with topics ranging from the finances of death to the tragedy of losing a child.
Listeners can tune into Grave to Great on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. New episodes air on Thursdays. More information can be found at https://www.gravetogreat.com/.
Connect with Tracy Wood on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook at @alleotracy.