Cicely Saunders was a renowned nurse, physician and social worker. She was credited for introducing the idea of "total pain" through which she gave equal importance to physical, emotional, social and spiritual distress. During her tenure as a research fellow at St. Mary's Paddington, she campaigned for the practice of the administration of drugs on a regular basis to those patients who were suffering from constant pain. She put stress on the fact that patients' constant need of certain medicines like morphine leads them towards addiction to such medicines. According to her, only regular administration of such medicines can solve this problem by enabling them to receive lower doses of these medicines. This theory of Cicely is considered as an important part of hospice care. She will be remembered as the founder of St. Christopher's hospice that takes care of terminally ill patients. In an era, when euthanasia was considered as the only solution for patients suffering from cancer and other painful conditions, she proved that pain can be controlled by compassionate care and love through the establishment of St. Christopher's hospice. This organization is the first in the history of medicine to combine teaching and clinical research. She also authored books like "Care Of The Dying" and co-edited "The Management Of Terminal Disease".

Early life:

Cicely Saunders was born on June 22, 1918, to a wealthy family in London and was the first of three children. She was sent to boarding schools starting at the age of 10. Always extremely shy, she would later say that her unpopularity gave her greater empathy for others who felt as if they did not belong. She was also troubled by her parents' unhappy marriage that ended in the 1940s.

Education and Nursing Career

Saunders was turned down by several universities before she was accepted at St. Anne's College in Oxford. When World War II started, she felt so strongly about the war that she left St. Anne's to study at The Nightingale Training School to become a Red Cross war nurse. During her training, she had rotations at several mental hospitals and worked in different areas of Park Prewett Hospital in London. She found the work very stressful but persevered until back problems forced her to leave.

Returning to St. Anne's, Saunders studied to be an almoner, a British term for social service worker. Her training was at the Royal Cancer Hospital, and after graduation in 1947, she began working for St. Thomas' Hospital's Northcote Trust, a facility that specialized in cancer treatment. While there, she met and fell in love with someone who would change her life. David Tasma was a cancer patient, and through his experiences, she came to realize that there was a need for better care of the terminally ill. She had a vision that she shared with him, and at his death, he left her 500 pounds and became the inspiration for fulfilling her dream.

As preparation for developing the hospice movement, Saunders enrolled in the St. Thomas' Medical School, graduating in 1957 as a physician. Following this, she studied pharmacology to understand better how to alleviate the pain of the terminally ill. She came to advocate the regular administration of pain medication rather than waiting for the patient to ask for it. She found that this method of administration allowed lower doses and the patients remained more alert. This protocol is followed in hospice care today.

Once her education was completed, Saunders prepared her plans for a hospice facility. She emphasized not only physical care but also spiritual and emotional care that would provide a comforting, homelike atmosphere. She also was concerned about the welfare of the patients' families.

After her hospice concept was developed, Saunders started raising money for construction of the physical facility. Called St. Christopher's Hospice, it was opened in 1967. She was quoted as saying it was a hospital and a home. It is still providing compassionate, palliative care to cancer patients and those with other terminal illnesses. It is the prime example for quality hospice care throughout the world.

Ironically, both Saunders and her husband died at St. Christopher's Hospice. Dame Cicely and Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, an artist, were married in 1980. After a long illness, he died at St. Christopher's in 1995. She worked until the very end of her life and died from cancer at St. Christopher's in 2005.

The Nursing Legacy of Dame Cicely Saunders

Dame Cicely Saunders was very humble about her accomplishments. She said that her objective was to alleviate pain, but it was not long before she realized that pain was more than physical. She developed and instituted the concept of caring for the whole person and providing comfort and dignity until the end of life. Her example shows what just one dedicated person with a vision can do.

Just three years before her death, Sanders co-founded Cicely Saunders International. This charity promotes research to study the care and treatment of all patients with terminal illnesses and strives to make palliative care available to anyone who needs it.

Personal Life & Legacy

While serving at St. Thomas's Hospital's Northcote Trust, she met David Tasma, a cancer patient from Poland. She fell in love with Tasma whom she nursed till his death.

Tasma left 500 pounds which acted as an inspiration behind the construction of her dream project St. Christopher's Hospice. Later, she developed romantic relationship with Antoni Michniewicz, her patient. Antoni passed away in 1960.In 1980, she married Professor Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, a Polish painter. In 1995, Marian passed away in St. Christopher's hospice.Cicely died of cancer at the age of 87 at St. Christopher's Hospice.

Trivia

In one of her interviews, this prominent social worker admitted that being an introvert, she found it extremely difficult to make friends while studying at Roedean boarding school. Moreover, her parents' unhappy marriage complicated her situation.

Family members:

Spouse: Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, Polish painter

Mother: Mary Christian

Father: Gordon Saunders

Siblings: John Frederick Stacey Saunders and Christopher Gordon Strode Saunders