Notes from the Waiting Room: Managing a Loved One's End-of-Life Hospitalization (by Bart Windrum) - $25.00

Description: Notes from the Waiting Room is written by a layperson for laypeople (while also speaking to providers). Bart Windrum's insights from outside the system looking in -- the way most patient-families encounter hospitalization -- is informed by personal experiences during the demise of each of his parents. During his loved one's end-days, Bart functioned as a a personal representative and medical power of attorney. Afterwards, as property power of attorney and trustee, he settled the family estate.

Notes from the Waiting Room is unique among the few books offering guidance during hospitalization. The range of topics Bart covers are not addressed by other writers, including the ultimate insiders, physicians.

Major subjects include:

• Redefining what hospitals actually provide;
• How to effectively represent a hospitalized loved one
• Communication and the nature of hospital "care;"
• Forecasting and the shock of its absence;
• Obtaining timely in-hospital ethical support;
• A top-to-bottom examination of resuscitation including various real-world ethical conundrums unexpectedly arising at the intersection of treatment goals, patient autonomy, and doctor prerogative;
• A straight-on look at death and why it matters,
• Opting out of terminal hospitalization altogether.

Notes from the Waiting Room untangles the detrimental effects of these previously unexamined aspects of any hospitalization. By turns evocative and incisive, this book will widen your thinking and open your options, especially a during loved ones' end days.

Endorsements: "A practical, wise, and timely exploration of an inescapable universal event. This book speaks to us all." - Richard D. Lamm, former three-term Colorado Governor, Co-Director of the University of Denver Institute for Public Policy Studies

"Making difficult medical and ethical choices can be stressful and frightening. Perhaps rightfully, Notes from the Waiting Room paints hospitals in a questionable light. The Option to Die in PEACE (Patient Ethical Alternative Care Elective) is of great benefit to patients and families everywhere, providing a practical framework to master the maze of conflicting options and opinions. Do as Bart Windrum suggests: take your favorite hospital chaplain to lunch, and learn what is going on." - Robert Eaton, Director of Mission and Spiritual Care, Office of Mission and Ministry, St. Anthony Central Hospital, Denver Colorado

"Notes from the Waiting Room offers a poignant and elegant examination of tensions interfering with the peaceful demise most Americans say they want. Constructive, engaging, and challenging, Notes from the Waiting Room critiques the institutionalized confusion around end-of-life goals, whereby well-intentioned people end up conflicted between deeply held values and biotechnology's siren song. A must-read for laypersons and professionals who champion common sense, good stewardship, and humane caring."- Diann Uustal, RN, MS, EdD; Clinical Ethicist. President, Educational Resources in HealthCare, Inc.

Product Details
Publisher: Axiom Action
Paperback: 336 pages
Language: English
ISBN: 978-0-9801090-0-9
Dimensions: 6 x 9 inches
Shipping weight: 1 pounds

About the Author: Bart Windrum's formative years focused on artistic expression in music (rock and fusion drumming) and the commercial graphic arts. During these and later years Bart worked in the printing industry, as a software trainer, and more recently as an information technology technical writer. Bart made the Rocky Mountain West his home in 1973, and has lived in Boulder, Colorado with his wife and daughter for nearly two decades. Among the more valuable life experiences was participation in Men’s Work for much of the 1990s. Coincident with writing Notes from the Waiting Room, Bart authored the healthcare initiative The Option to Die in PEACE (Patient Ethical Alternative Care Elective). Today Bart writes and speaks on managing hospitalization and new ways to approach end of life.