No One Dies Alone (Employee Only)

No One Dies Alone (NODA) is a program that grew out of an encounter between a nurse and a dying patient one rainy night at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene, Oregon. The patient was nearing the end of his life and asked the nurse to stay with him. She agreed she would – but only after she had checked on her other patients. In the time it took her to do that, the elderly gentleman died ... alone.

Haunted by this, the nurse came up with a program that provides patients who would otherwise be alone with “compassionate companions” – volunteers who will sit with them in the final hours of their lives. Our hospital launched the program in 2011.

The primary role is to provide a comforting and reassuring presence to a dying patient who would otherwise be alone. The activity at the bedside will vary from patient to patient but may take the form of simple gestures such as holding a patient's hand, reading aloud, playing soothing music on a CD player or assisting in comfort measures as directed by the nurse.