Joy Ufema

Joy Ufema, also known as Joy Counsel (born 1942),[3] is a retired American nurse and thanatologist. She is noted for her work with terminally ill people in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, and was the first nurse-thanatologist in the country. Ufema garnered national attention after 60 Minutes aired a segment about her, and she became the subject of a television film, A Matter of Life and Death. She was Clinical Specialist in Thanatology for Upper Chesapeake Medical Center/Harford Memorial Hospital.

Joy Ufema
Born
Joy K. Counsel

1942 (age 78–79)
Altoona, Pennsylvania
Other namesJoy (Ufema) Counsel
CitizenshipUnited States
EducationB.S. and M.S., Columbia Pacific University
OccupationNurse
Known forFirst nurse-thanatologist in U.S.
Notable work
Brief Companions
Insights on Death & Dying
Board member ofPennsylvania Hospice Network Executive Committee
Partner(s)Linda Lighty[1][2]

Early life and education

Her mother was Cecelia Counsel (1916–1984) from Eldorado, Pennsylvania,[4] and her father Ernest Victor Counsel (1917–1965) was a machinist for the Pennsylvania Railroad in Altoona.[4][5] After leaving high school, Ufema failed her training as a nurse at Altoona Hospital School of Nursing in 1961.[4][6] Following a stint working at Warren State Hospital as psychiatric aide, she returned to Harrisburg to complete her nurse's training at Harrisburg Community College.[4] Ufema earned both B.S. and M.S. degrees at Columbia Pacific University.[7]

Career

Ufema's interest in helping dying patients began when she was working as a urology nurse in 1972. She persuaded the hospital to allow her to tend to terminal patients after hearing a speech by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.[6] Ufema cited Kübler-Ross' book On Death and Dying as an influence.[8] In her job, she granted several last wishes to her patients, which prompted complaints from her fellow nurses that she had been given too much autonomy.[6]

She garnered national attention after a 14-minute segment about her was aired on the CBS television program 60 Minutes in January 1977. As a result, Ufema received more referrals from physicians.[8] The segment impressed actress Linda Lavin who made a telephone call to Ufema to talk to her about producing a film about her life. However, the extra publicity Ufema received meant there were conflicts between her and the administration, and she resigned her post in 1978.[6] The film about Ufema, A Matter of Life and Death, was broadcast on television on CBS on January 13, 1981.[9]

One of Ufema's early publications was an article called "What to Say to Members After a Family Death".[10] Ufema has also authored articles for American Journal of Hospice Care.[1] She has served as guest lecturer and consultant for several schools and medical facilities.[10] In 1984, she wrote Brief Companions, describing her work as a nurse thanatologist at Harrisburg Hospital.[11] She was featured in a 1991 video, Dealing with Death and Dying.[12] In 2007, she published Insights on Death & Dying, a collection of her columns since 1987 for a nursing journal.[1] She has held memberships in the Institute of Society, Ethics, and the Life Sciences, the Forum of Death Education and Counseling, and the Pennsylvania Hospice Network Executive Committee.

Ufema founded a private death-counseling practice in Harrisburg which closed after one year of operation because of financial difficulty. She opened the counseling center, Hospice of Lancaster County, in March 1980.[6] She interviewed patients and established a team of medical and other personnel who oversaw volunteers and directed support groups who dealt with the patients' families. Ufema's work nationally took time away from her work in Lancaster, and she was asked to resign her position in October 1982.[8] She acquired the York House Hospice for terminally ill patients with AIDS in June 1991 which began operating six months later.[13] Following a recommendation made by Ufema, the hospice was closed on November 22, 1996, after it suffered from financial difficulties.[14] She worked for Upper Chesapeake Medical Center/Harford Memorial Hospital as their Clinical Specialist in Thanatology before her retirement.[2][15]

Many medical volunteers have stated Ufema influenced them to work in the sector.[16] Ufema asked her patients what it was like to be seriously ill and encouraged them to take control over the remainder of their lives.[17] She was the first nurse-thanatologist in the United States.[13]

Honors

Ufema was honored with the Distinguished Pennsylvanian award in 1980,[10] and was named as a Distinguished Alumni Award winner by the Altoona Area School District Foundation in 2004.[7]

See also

References
  1. Ufema, Joy (2007). Insights on Death and Dying. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p. x. ISBN 1582559732 – via Google Books.
  2. Harmon, Kate (June 7, 2016). "They gave York AIDS patients a place to die (column)". York Daily Record – York Sunday News. Retrieved September 15, 2016. The pair continued talking of the old days, with Counsel's partner, Linda, whispering later that she worries that after their retirements the two lost sight of the work they'd done – the lives they changed.
  3. "U.S. Public Records Index". ancestry.com. 1993. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  4. "News From Around Here". Tyrone Daily Herald. 113 (247). June 5, 1981. p. 1. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2016 – via Newspapers.com .
  5. "Obituaries – Counsel". Altoona Mirror. Altoona, Pennsylvania. July 16, 1965.
  6. Bricker, Rebecca (January 19, 1981). "Joy Ufema's Work with the Dying Has Inspired Controversy, a TV Film and Immeasurable Gratitude". People. 15 (2). Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  7. "2004 Distinguished Alumni Award Winners – AASD Foundation/AAHS Alumni Association". aasdfoundation.site-ym.com. Archived from the original on September 20, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  8. "Hospice director asked to quit". Reading Eagle (273). October 27, 1982. pp. 1 & 8. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  9. "TV-movie deals with dying". Bangor Daily News. January 10, 1981. p. 3ME. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  10. "Joy Ufema will speak at Wilson". The Gettysburg Times. 79 (214). September 11, 1981. p. 7. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  11. Ufema, Joy (1984). Brief Companions. Fawn Grove, Pennsylvania: Mulligan Company. ISBN 0930841018 – via Google books.
  12. Dealing with Death and Dying. U.S.: Springhouse Publishing Co. 1991. ISBN 0874343356.
  13. J. Hare, Sharon (December 12, 1992). "York House – A place where final wishes are everything". Hanover Evening Sun. 161 (89). p. A3. Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2016 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
  14. "AIDS hospice in York shuts down". Altoona Mirror. Associated Press. November 7, 1996. p. B3. Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2016 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
  15. "Being Fully Present with Joy Ufema". Kanopy. 2007. Archived from the original on September 13, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  16. Gall Hare, Mary (October 9, 1992). "Assume dying patient knows best, specialist tells hospice workers". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on September 20, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  17. "Nurse Helps Terminally Ill Prepare To Face Death". Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph. Associated Press. February 8, 1978. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2016 – via Newspapers.com .
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