Hospice nurses reveal the one word they often hear just 24 hours before someone dies
For hospice nurses, caring for people at the end of their lives is part of their everyday work. They witness moments of fear, sadness, reflection, and, sometimes, unexpected peace.
Over the years, some hospice workers say they begin to notice patterns in the experiences of patients during their final days and hours. One hospice professional, Neal K. Shah, says there is one particular word he has heard repeatedly from patients as they approach the end of their lives.
And that word is deeply personal for many people.
“Mum.”
Death is a subject most people would rather avoid thinking about. Yet for hospice nurses and caregivers, it is an unavoidable part of their work.
Every day, they sit beside people facing the final stage of serious illness. They provide comfort, reassurance, and companionship, while also supporting family members who are often struggling to understand what is happening to someone they love.
For many families, hospice nurses become much more than medical caregivers. They can become trusted guides through an experience that is unfamiliar, emotional, and incredibly difficult.
After years of spending time at the bedsides of dying patients, Neal K. Shah says he has noticed something that continues to stay with him.
Shah, co-founder and CEO of CareYaya Health, has spoken publicly about hospice care and the experiences he has witnessed while working with patients. His comments are aimed at helping families and caregivers better understand what can happen during the final stages of life.
In a Facebook video, Shah described what he considers one of the most striking patterns he has encountered.
“There’s one word that hospice nurses hear again and again in a person’s final 24 hours. And once you learn what it is, it stays with you forever,” he said.
According to Shah, that word is “Mum.”
He explained that he has heard patients call for their mothers even when their mothers have been gone for many years.
“And I’m talking about even patients who are in their 90s. Even patients whose mothers had died more than 50 years earlier,” Shah said.
His observation is particularly striking because it suggests that memories and emotional connections formed early in life may remain deeply meaningful even in the final stages of a person’s life.
