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All patients have the following rights:
The Right to Be in Control:
Grant me the right to make as many decisions as possible regarding my care. Please do not take choice from me. Let me make my own decisions.
The Right to Have a Sense of Purpose:
I have lost my job. I can no longer fulfill my role in my family. Please help me find some new sense of purpose.
The Right to Reminisce:
There has been pleasure in my life, moments of pride, moments of love. Please give me some time to recollect those moments. And please listen to my recollections.
The Right to Know the Truth:
When you withhold the truth from me, you treat me as if I am no longer living. I am still living, and I need to know the truth about my life. Please help me find the truth.
The Right to Be in Denial:
If I hear the truth and choose not to accept it, that is my right.
The Right to Be Comfortable:
The pain involved in dying is multifaceted. Although not all of my pain can be taken away, please relieve whatever portion you can.
The Right to Touch and Be Touched:
Sometimes I need distance. Yet sometimes I have a strong need to be close. When I want to reach out, please come to me and hold me as I hold you.
The Right to Laughter:
People often- far too often- come to me wearing masks of seriousness. Although dying, I still need to laugh. Please laugh with me and help others to laugh as well.
The Right to Cry and Express Anger:
It is difficult to leave behind all my attachments and all that I love. Please allow me the opportunity to be sad and angry.
The Right to Explore the Spiritual:
Whether I am questioning or affirming, doubting, or praising, I sometimes need your ear, a nonjudgmental ear. Please let my spirit travel to its own journey, without judging its direction.
The Right to Have a Sense of Family:
No matter what defines my present family - it may be a small circle of friends and caregivers; it may encompass relatives - I need, now more than ever, to experience the connectedness, the intimacy, and the interdependence that constitute family.