TikTok User on Death
Julie McFadden — also known as @hospicenursejulie on TikTok — posted a video in October of 2022, explaining a common trend she sees happening in her line of work.
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Specifically, McFadden explained that many of her patients seem to go through one specific situation right before they ultimately pass.
Visioning
According to McFadden, many hospice patients experience a phenomenon that she calls “visioning.” This situation doesn’t happen to all her patients, but it does happen to most.
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Visioning is when people who are about to die believe that they’re seeing their loved ones who have already passed away. Often, these people also believe they’re seeing their animals, such as their old dogs, who have died.
A Visit From the Past
McFadden stated that her hospice patients would be visited by these deceased people or pets, and they would think that they were still alive. They truly thought they were in the room with them.
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“The craziest things we see on hospice is that most people will start seeing dead relatives, dead loved ones, dead friends, dead pets before they die,” McFadden explained.
When Does This Happen?
McFadden has also stated that this phenomenon can happen at many different times. However, it almost always happens when one of her patients is near death.
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Therefore, this means that a person can experience this situation anywhere from a month to a few weeks — or even a few days or hours — before they pass away.
Understanding Visioning
As McFadden has seen this happen before in her line of work, she understands that visioning often means her patient will soon die.
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McFadden said in her video, “Usually, it’s a good indicator that the person is getting close to death, usually a month or a few weeks before they die. This brings me comfort, I hope it brings you comfort.”
Why Does This Happen?
The hospice nurse also took the time in her video to explain that she’s not sure why visioning happens. Other healthcare workers aren’t sure, either, though those who are religious often believe it’s a spiritual event.
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“We have no idea why this happens,” McFadden said. “We are not claiming that they really are seeing these people. We have no idea.”
Warning Families
McFadden also explained that she and other hospice nurses make sure to warn both the patient and their families about visioning, so they know what to expect.
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Visioning can be quite alarming for patients and families, so nurses try to make sure they know that this situation could happen to them before the patient passes away.
Similar Experiences
McFadden’s TikTok post received more than 572,000 views and 48,000 likes. Many commented on her video that they had seen their family members go through similar situations before they passed away.
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“My grandma saw dogs in her room a month before she passed,” one commenter posted. “She was so happy. Always loved dogs.”
Slight Differences
Intriguingly, other hospice nurses have long said the same thing McFadden has — though some had slight differences. Carolyn Quach-Huynh, a nurse at Crossroads Hospice, explained she’s seen patients see many different people, not just their loved ones.
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“Sometimes patients don’t see a loved one, but they say they see spirits they don’t know popping in to visit. Sometimes, it is many people. They’ll say the room is crowded,” Quach-Huynh said. “It’s also not always a vision. It can be a deceased spouse or parent appearing in dreams. Or a familiar smell – like cigars or a certain perfume.”
Going on a Journey
Sometimes, visioning results in patients revealing that they’re going to soon go on a journey. Patients have said that their loved one — who is deceased — visited them and is going to take them on this new adventure.
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All these different aspects of visioning are incredibly common, even though many people don’t openly talk about its occurrence.
What Does Science Say?
While some studies have been conducted on end-of-life visions, science hasn’t really had the chance to fully declare what visioning is. These studies haven’t been able to pinpoint why this happens.
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However, one study has claimed this experience often feels quite spiritual to patients. Another report has explained that, of all the hospice patients a part of the study, all experienced some level of visioning.