Stay Close and Do Nothing: A Spiritual and Practical Guide to Caring for the Dying at Home

A step-by-step guide to caring for a terminally ill loved one offers practical nursing skills, effective pain treatments, and tips on handling visitors

There is a kind of paradox in Merrill Collett's beautifully written and eye-opening book: she explains that caring for the dying can bring new life and meaning to caregivers. Using her firsthand experience in a Zen hospice in San Francisco, Collett covers the basics of feeding, cleaning, pain medications, handling visitors, and many more practical aspects of caregiving, but she puts them in a context that allows caregivers to be more mindful of their efforts. She urges people to grow personally while offering support, and to learn how to be fully present and pay attention while recognizing when it's best to merely stay close and do nothing. Stay Close and Do Nothing is a moving, practical, lovingly written book.