C L Magazine Volume 8 - 2022 Spring | Summer Issue

How Hospice Became My Life’s Purpose

by Sherron Dotson-Sowell, RN Hospice work is my life’s purpose: serving and supporting others with dignity, grace and love at one of the most vulnerable times in life. There is a story about how I began living out my life’s purpose nearly 10 years ago: the day I first began working as a hospice nurse.

Life can lead us in some unexpected directions. My career journey is no exception.

The road I traveled to eventually become a hospice nurse is an interesting one.

I took care of my grandparents all of my life. Caring for them shaped who I am and why I care for all of my patients with so much passion. Both grandparents were Diabetics. My grandmother had a Peg tube, a device that can be used to administer medications and liquids, including liquid food known as enteral nutrition. The lower portion of her leg was amputated, so I changed her wound dressings, assisted with physical therapy and helped monitor blood glucose levels for both of my grandparents.

Caring about their health led me to be interested in the health and wellness field in general. As a result, I soon become a Certified Fitness Instructor, teaching health, wellness and Aerobic line dance classes at Tri-C and in our communities before going on to earn my degree as a Registered Nurse at the historic Huron School of Nursing in Cleveland.

As a side note, a career achievement unrelated to the nursing or health and wellness fields occurred when I was employed as an interior designer at Ethan Allen Interiors. I was humbled to earn their coveted “National Rookie of the Year Award” from a field of 2,500 of my peers. It was an honor to be the company's first African American woman to achieve this level of success.

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