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Meet Anna

Dementia Caregiving Veteran

I thought all my training and experience in end-of-life care would prepare me well for caring for my own loved ones.

Well. Turns out, not so much.

My mother was diagnosed with Vascular Dementia after a watershed stroke during surgery for a broken hip. I still had a middle schooler and a high schooler at home and a full-time job. The sandwich generation. It was nuts. Mama did okay as long as Dad was healthy.. She spent two years on memory care until she began to resist being fed, at which point I quit my job, took her home to our house, and got hospice. She died peacefully at home.

 

Ten years later, my husband Stuart was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. I retired to spend all my time with him. We thought that between the two of us, we could navigate the health care system easily. We got hooked up with the regional Alzheimer’s Disease clinical and research teams, read everything on the latest research, and set off on adventures. If there was anything I had learned from my cancer patients, it was don’t take what time you have for granted.

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As my soulmate’s DPOA-HC, I was increasingly the decision maker. As he lost more and more of his ability to manage his activities of daily living, I had to take on more of the responsibility for his care. None of my education or experience had prepared me for the deep heart sorrow that filled our days. I was fortunate that he had filled out a set of Dementia-Specific Health Care Directives to help guide me to fulfill my duty as his proxy decision maker. A job that turned out to be no less difficult despite all I knew about end of life. However, as much as I loved him deeply and couldn’t bear to lose him, I was able to follow his instructions around stopping and not starting treatment to allow natural death.

Experienced dementia caregiver
Advance Care Planning for Dementia

Dementia-Specific
Health Care Directives
Workshops

Join Anna for a two hour workshop on Advance Care Planning for Dementia. Topics include introduction to the special circumstances around competency in the moderate to severe stages of dementia, the implications of choosing the kind of medical care that is acceptable and unacceptable to you in the moderate and severe stages of dementia, how you define quality of life, and issues around hastening death in the late stages of dementia.

Services

Consulting

$80/hr

Online Classes

$75

Live Workshops

$150

free 30 minute consultation then $80/hr

Anna Du Pen's Summary

Education & Certifications:

  • Certificate in Palliative Care, California State University (2022)

  • Faculty Training, Improving Goal Concordant Care Initiative, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center (2022)

  • Vital Talk Training (2021)

  • Certification, HPNA Palliative Care RN (2019)

  • Certification, ONS/ONCC Radiation Therapy Nurse (2017)

  • Certification, HPNA Advanced Practice Hospice and Palliative Care Nurse (2010)

  • Master’s in Nursing (Oncology Pathway), University of Washington (1985)

  • Bachelor’s in Nursing, University of Washington (1981)

Employment History:

  • Peninsula Cancer Center / Fred Hutch, Poulsbo, WA: Radiation Oncology RN, Palliative Care RN (04/2017 – 03/2023)

  • Work hiatus due to husband’s illness (2012 – 2017)

  • University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA: Palliative Care ARNP (11/2010 – 05/2012)

  • Hospice of Kitsap County, Bremerton, WA: Palliative Care ARNP (10/2008 – 09/2010)

  • Swedish Medical Center Cancer Institute, Seattle, WA: Oncology/PC ARNP (04/1993 – 10/2009)

Grants & Awards:

  • ​Co-Investigator, Small Business Administration SBIR grant: “An Intelligent Knowledgebase Assistant for Cancer Pain Treatment” (1998)

  • Co-Investigator, National Cancer Institute: “An Intelligent Knowledgebase Assistant for Cancer Pain Treatment” (1998)​​

  • Co-Investigator, National Cancer Institute: “Pharmacologic Algorithm for Cancer Pain Management” (1994)

Teaching & Administrative Activities:

  • Teaching Associate for Palliative Care, Family Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine (2010-2011)

  • Teaching Associate for Elective course, End of Life Communication, University of Washington School of Medicine (2010-2011)

  • Palliative Care Representative, Quality Improvement Committee, University of Washington Medical Center (2011)

  • Clinical Nursing Instructor, University of Washington School of Nursing (1988-2010)
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Publications:

Authored and co-authored numerous research articles and book chapters focused on pain management, palliative care, and oncology nursing between 1987 and 2022. Some notable publications include:

  • A. DuPen, B. Madsen, K. Gates, "Process Improvement for Completion of Advance Care Planning in Radiation Oncology Ambulatory Clinic," Poster Presentation, Oncology Nursing Society Congress, 2022.

  • AR Du Pen, D. Shen, M. Ersek, "Mechanisms of Opioid Induced Tolerance and Hyperalgesia," Pain Management Nursing, 2007, Volume 8, Issue 3, Pages 113–121.

  • Du Pen A. “Role of the Nurse Practitioner in Pain Management.” In B. St. Marie (Ed) Core Curriculum for Pain Management Nursing, American Society of Pain Management Nurses: Pensacola, FL, 2002.

  • Du Pen A, Robison J. “Palliative Care in the Outpatient Setting.” In Ferrell and Coyle (Eds) Textbook of Palliative Care Nursing, Oxford: New York, 2001.

  • Du Pen A, Du Pen S, Hansberry J, Kraybill B, Millen J, Everly R, Hansen N, Syrjala K. “An Educational Implementation of a Cancer Pain Algorithm for Ambulatory Care,” Journal of Pain Management Nursing 1(4), 116-128, 2000.

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Anna Du Pen has had a significant career focused on oncology nursing, palliative care, and pain management, contributing extensively to research, education, and clinical practice in these fields.

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