It is approaching midnight and I am sitting next to a person who is about to die. I hold the dying man’s hand and confirm in a calm voice that I am here. Relatives have been around all evening, but now they too must rest. The dying person lies with his mouth open, eyes closed and the whole face smooth. She cannot be contacted, but I still rattle off the family’s name and tell her that they are thinking of her. Because did you know that hearing is one of the last things a person loses? Since the New Year, I have been watching over people who are about to die, and who do not want to die alone. This is a voluntary service, which can be found around some places in the country. It’s a great way to prevent lonely deaths. As it is now, it is a reality that people die alone. For every vigil I have had with a person who is about to die, I feel a great gratitude for being able to be present. But what would have happened if no volunteers could take the watch? And what about everyone else who had needed someone’s presence during these hours? 04:06 the person I’m sitting with dies. It was a peaceful death and he was not alone. When our last heartbeat beats we have a right to decide. Whether it is dying alone or in the presence of others. Norway violates UN rights every single time a person dies alone without a wish. So why don’t we do more for the dying and their relatives? As a watchman, I sit with people in different life situations in hospitals. Perhaps it is a person with dementia who needs to be reassured in an unfamiliar place. It could be a person who wakes up from a suicide attempt and needs supervision, or a person who is dying. I took the job as a watchman because I wanted to arrange for people to live until they die, because death is part of life. There is no guarantee that people who are going to die soon have relatives in the same city. Others do not have relatives who can stand up and some do not have relatives at all. For relatives, it can be a great strain to have to sit with a family member who is dying. And not everyone has time in a non-stop everyday life. It is also not a given that the family will stand up, even if you have one. We live in an everyday life where it is difficult to stop, and society expects life to go on. There is no doubt that there are many good and caring employees in the healthcare system who want to contribute to the people they meet having a dignified death. But the system in the healthcare system makes it difficult to prioritize adequate staffing in everyday life. Nurses already have a bad conscience and feel they are not enough. Doctors struggle with a bad conscience and mental illness. There is often no room in the working day to have an employee who is placed with a dying patient throughout the shift. Patients in the same department may then lose the treatment they need and are entitled to. When people are dying, it is possible to hire a permanent watchman, who then sits with the dying person and observes. These are often healthcare personnel, paid by hospitals or nursing homes. But the reality is that there are different practices in Norway. We will cheer on and promote the places that can afford to use permanent duty, and prioritize that no dying person should lie alone. I am missing documentation on how many people die alone in Norway each year, so I can see the development. But a fixed-duty solution does not work when there is no law that determines that this is something that must be hired. Unfortunately, it is the case that many places do not hire permanent caretakers for dying patients. And then you are left with us volunteers, who try to reach out, but which is certainly not enough. I have experienced how peaceful and natural a death can be. But having to leave someone who knows fear and anxiety about death is far from worthy. We cannot accept that finances and staffing mean that people do not receive good treatment. We need a statutory permanent guard for terminal patients, to ensure that Norway does not violate the UN’s rights. All people should have a dignified death. We need resources for a larger staffing. The needs of people in health and care professions for a good everyday working life should be taken seriously. It is a cost that will make people’s last moments on earth worthy. It will cover the needs of survivors and relatives and, not least, make it possible for employees to be able to get assistance in an already crowded working day. We need more hands to hold, and a system that faces death with dignity.
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Waiting for death – Speech
