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TO COMFORT ALWAYS: A NURSE’S GUIDE TO END-OF-LIFE CARE
Linda Norlander. Washington, DC: American Nurses’ Association; 2001. Softcover. 92 pages.

Reviewed by Benny Bolin RN

This book is a resource for all nurses who care for end-of-life patients and their families. The book is well organized and easy to read. Each chapter is divided into sections that outline 3 nursing roles: clinician, advocate, and guide. Every chapter begins with a case study that introduces the content of the chapter, allowing the reader to relate the content to his or her own experiences and patients. Additional case studies provide a practical application to the content.

To Comfort Always is organized to walk the nurse and other healthcare team members through the various stages of the end-of-life process. The author offers details and definitions of this process, as well as strategies for approaching issues such as future planning using advance directives and pain and symptom management. A discussion on the holistic view of suffering is also included, as well as an informative in-depth discussion of the final hours of life, including physiological changes. Another worthwhile chapter deals with the care and support needed by the survivors; a group often overlooked in end-of-life discussions. The book concludes with chapters that discuss pediatric death, cultural diversity, and hospice care.

A more in-depth discussion about comfort care, as well as a discussion on the topics of double effect and related fears of "euthanasia," would have been beneficial in this book. However, overall, To Comfort Always is a good resource to the nurse working with patients at the end of life.

Benny Bolin is a clinical manager at Baylor University Medical Center, Houston, Tex.

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