Health · Healthcare & Policy · 4 hrs ago
Home nurse says love and familiar surroundings can shape a peaceful death
Mariam Jumaat has cared for more than 100 people nearing the end of life as a home nurse.
She visits patients with incurable illnesses, including cancer, dementia and heart disease, and helps ease their symptoms.
Her work is part of the Home Nursing Foundation’s programme, launched in 2023, for people who want to spend their final months at home.
At first, Jumaat did not want to care for dying patients because she felt a nurse’s job was to help people recover.
She changed her mind after seeing patients leave home for hospice care when they could no longer get better.
One patient’s family shared his favourite drink, whiskey, with him before he died, and later described his death as happy.
Jumaat says familiar surroundings and loved ones can make dying more peaceful, and nearly 400 patients are now enrolled in the programme.
Mariam Jumaat, a home nurse for end-of-life patients, has cared for more than 100 people with incurable conditions.
She says love and familiar surroundings can help make death peaceful.
Her first patient in the role, a man with terminal cancer, died at home after sharing whiskey with his family.
Mariam supports patients who want to spend their final months at home with loved ones.
Nearly 400 patients are enrolled in the Home Nursing Foundation programme.
- Who
- Mariam Jumaat, a home nurse, and patients with life-limiting illnesses.
- What
- She supports patients who want to spend their final months at home and says love and familiar surroundings can shape a peaceful death.
- When
- The programme launched in October 2023. The article was published on October 24, 2026.
- Where
- Patients are cared for at home. The programme is run by Singapore’s Home Nursing Foundation.
- Why
- Many patients want to avoid dying in hospital and spend their final months among familiar people and surroundings.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Mariam was offered a role caring for end-of-life patients and initially declined.
She changed her mind after seeing some patients transfer to hospices because they could not spend their final days at home.
Mariam accepted the role.
The Home Nursing Foundation launched its Integrated Home Health programme.
CNA published its article about Mariam’s experiences.
- Patients cared for
- More than 100
- Programme launch
- October 2023
- Estimated life expectancy for enrolment
- Six months to a year
- Enrolled patients
- Nearly 400
- First patient in the role
- A man with terminal cancer known as the “whiskey uncle
What people are saying
The most peaceful deaths I have seen usually involve happy people with loved ones around them
As a nurse, I feel that home is the best place to pass on – the familiar smells, their own bed, and loved ones around them
I didn’t want to work with dying patients