Hope and Good Dying:
What Do Chaplains Have to Offer When Cure is “Off the Table”?
Carol Taylor, PhD, MSN, RN
Monday, April 25, 2016 at 9:00 a.m.
Rev. Richard Tessmer Leadership Lecture
Remaining hopeful in a global community marred by war, increasing attacks of violence, and profound inequities that leave millions dying of hunger thirst and treatable diseases is at best a challenge. When age, infirmity, and serious illness complicate our lives by threatening our very sense of self and continued existence, despair is a real option. With assisted suicide now an option in a growing number of states more are likely to choose this option. If it’s true that each and every human being lives by hope, each and every human being expects hope, is hoping for hope (Pope Benedict) – then then we as spiritual caregivers need to be skilled in cultivating hope. This session will explore why hope matters and explore strategies for enabling hope in the seriously ill and dying.
Carol Taylor, PhD, MSN, RN is a senior clinical scholar in the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University and a Professor of Medicine and Nursing. Experienced in caring for patients who are chronically and critically ill and their families, Carol chose doctoral work in philosophy with a concentration in bioethics because of a passion to “make healthcare work” for those who need it.
At Georgetown, Carol directs an innovative ethics curriculum grounded in a rich notion of moral agency for advanced practice nurses. Her research interests include clinical and professional ethics, and organizational integrity. She works closely with healthcare professionals and leaders who are exploring the ethical dimensions of their practice. She lectures internationally and writes on various issues in healthcare ethics and serves as an ethics consultant to systems and professional organizations. She is the author of Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins Fundamentals of Nursing: The Art and Science of Person-Centered Nursing Care, which is now in its 8th edition, and co-editor of Health and Human Flourishing: Religion, Medicine and Moral Anthropology and the 4th edition of Case Studies in Nursing Ethics.
The Rev. Richard Tessmer Leadership Lecture honors the memory of Dick Tessmer, longtime chaplains, supervisor, and pillar of the NACC. The lecture is sponsored by AMITA Health, a faith-based health system created by the Alexian Brothers Health System and Adventist Midwest Health.
To find handouts from Carol Taylor’s plenary session, go to our 2016 Conference Handouts and Other Materials page.
