Sponsored by Cape Fear Valley Health.
Two years ago in May, Rachel Thurnher was sitting bedside with her father, George Caley, at his home as he quietly slipped out of this world, surrounded by love, comfort and peace.
“It was everything he wanted,” Thurnher said. “He had my brother on one side, me on the other and was not in any pain. All his wishes were honored, and it was a good death.”
Thurnher said her father was the inspiration for bringing the No One Dies Alone (NODA) program to Cape Fear Valley Health in January 2025. The program brings in volunteers to provide comfort to those dying who have no loved ones or family to be at their bedside during the last moments of their lives.
“He started my hometown’s hospice program in Virginia and 40 years later became the patient,” Thurnher said of her father, who was the president of the Winchester Medical Center.
When he was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer, Caley was told that he would only have a few months left to live. He had time to plan and he was able to have all of his wishes upheld for the end, which sparked the drive for others to have the same, even if they did not have anyone available to be at their side.
“Everyone deserves a good death,” Thurnher said. “Everyone deserves dignity, comfort and respect and to have someone there showing compassion.”
“Patients qualify for NODA once a provider orders ‘comfort care‘ for them. This means that the hospital will not do anything further to prolong their life and the focus becomes keeping them as comfortable as possible,” according to Thurnher.
Comfort care means that the hospital will not do anything further to prolong life, according to Thurnher. Feeding tubes are taken out, IV fluids are stopped and her team of volunteers can step in to help the patient pass peacefully.
“We are truly just there to be a positive presence,” Thurnher said. “We pray, we meditate, we read, we provide a comforting touch, we play music according to their preference. We do anything a loved one would normally do.”
Thurnher keeps a comfort cart stocked with fuzzy blankets, flowers, flameless candles, lotion, lip balm, a CD player with Bluetooth to play anything the patients want, cards if they would like to write to loved ones and all sorts of books, both religious and secular.
“We try to have it all in that cart and provide whatever the patient would like as we sit vigil, talking softly with them in their final moments,” Thurnher said.
For Thurnher, the education coordinator for Cardiac Diagnostics and the Cardiovascular Recovery Unit and now also the program coordinator for NODA, it is an honor to be with someone at the end of their life to help them achieve what she calls “a good death.”
“I always enjoyed cardiac nursing throughout school and in my professional career,” Thurnher said, “but I also knew after I was with my dad that I wanted to volunteer with end-of-life patients.”
When she started researching how to help those who might not have support in the area, she found the NODA program and knew it would be a perfect fit for Cape Fear Valley Health.
The program was created on the other side of the country, according to a Cape Fear Valley Health press release. The Sacred Heart Medical Center in Oregon started the NODA program in 2001, eventually becoming an international program, where volunteers, or “Compassionate Companions,” help ensure every patient has someone by their side in their final moments.
“The founder of No One Dies Alone, Sandra Clarke, has even written a program guide to help other hospitals start their own chapter of NODA,” Thurnher said.
Thurnher held the first interest meeting with pastoral care and volunteer services departments in May 2024. When the hospital introduced the program in January of this year, over 100 volunteers raised their hands to help within two days of the program’s announcement.
She attributes some of the interest in the program to Fort Bragg’s military families who pass through duty stations and learn to help those around them.
“As a military spouse in a military town, we take care of each other,” Thurnher said. “If you live here, it’s integrated in what we do. We live in a special place.”
Thurnher said she has been blown away by the level of compassion that is being shown by the volunteers.
Shortly after the program launched in January, the team had their first patient. The man, on his deathbed, might have been alone without Thurnher and her volunteers who took shifts with him until he ultimately completed his life’s journey.
“Our first patient was really special for everyone,” Thurnher said. “He had no family readily nearby so we had someone sit with him the entire time. We facilitated a good death without pain. He was clean and comfortable. It was really meaningful for our volunteers.”
She said she was honored and proud that the program was in place for him and that it functioned exactly how she’d hoped.
“It’s as much of a gift to the volunteer as it is for the patients and their families. It’s really just a win-win-win,” Thurnher said. “It’s an opportunity to be with someone at the end. It’s an honor. It’s uplifting for your soul and your well-being to be present, to face humanity and give this gift to someone.”
She said it is as much of a gift to the volunteer as it is for the patient and their families.
“For questions or to refer a patient in Cape Fear Valley Health to the program, you may call 910-850-8634, which is always answered 24/7,” Thurnher said. “We are always here to help and someone will come.”
Bereavement training for volunteers is on the third Saturday of every month from 8 a.m. to noon at the Center for Medical Education at 1638 Owen Drive in Fayetteville. “Volunteers are given specialized training in compassionate communication, comfort care, death and dying, health care ethics and spiritual care,” Thurnher said.
She encourages anyone who wants to find out more about the program to attend.
For more information on the No One Dies Alone program, visit capefearvalley.com/volunteer-services, email noda@capefearvalley.com or call volunteer services at 910-615-6783. There is also an Amazon Wishlist to help stock the comfort cart or Thurnher says that donations can be made to No One Dies Alone program through the Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation.
Read CityView Magazine’s “The Faith Issue” April 2025 e-edition here.