Working in end-of-life care can be punctuated by moments of profound sadness, but also by moments of quiet wonder. A palliative care nurse shared an experience she has witnessed repeatedly in her work with the dying: a simple yet mysterious gesture that many patients make just before dying.
Katie Duncan, a nurse practitioner and palliative care coach in Maryland, has spent years helping people find peace and dignity at the end of their lives. Drawing on her experience in intensive care units, home hospices, and long-term care facilities, she has observed a phenomenon that she finds both inexplicable and deeply moving.
The enigmatic gesture observed by dying patients
In a recent TikTok video, Katie describes what she calls one of the “mystical” aspects of the dying process: Many patients begin to reach upward with their arms, as if trying to grasp something invisible above them.
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