Cicely Saunders Biography

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”.