1. Most hospices have at least one therapy pet that comes in to visit patients and comfort families.
2. We help patients achieve their final wishes and goals.
3. Plenty of our patients get to go home again.
4. People often don't realise just how many people work at a typical hospice.
5. We don't just care for people with cancer.
6. And we look after young people too.
7. And we do a lot of things to prolong people's lives.
8. People wince when we tell them what we do.
9. We get a more than a little tired of people saying "oh, poor you, your job must be so sad."
10. We also don't just sit around holding patients' hands all day long.
11. We get tired and grumpy and fed up, just like anyone else.
12. A huge part of a hospice's job is supporting bereaved and soon-to-be-bereaved families.
13. We do get upset (and cry) when people die.
14. But there is such a thing as a "good death".
15. We could write a book about what not to say to someone who has just been bereaved.
16. We get yelled at more often than you'd think.
17. We're not that afraid of death or dying.
18. Nurses work in close-knit teams, which help us to cope with the emotional situations we see each day.
19. We don't tend to go to funerals.
20. Different types of people have very different approaches to death.
21. We actually have a lot of fun.
22. And we can be very daft at times.
23. In fact, we feel like our work really highlights what's important in life.
24. And at the day, we absolutely love what we do.
This post was put together with the help of the dedicated staff at St. Columba's Hospice in Edinburgh. They're a registered charity who always need donations to fund their work. To support them, please click here.