Palliative Care, Medicine and Hospice Nursing

Biography

Yvonne Heath has been a registered nurse since 1988 working in ten different hospitals in the US and Canada in many areas including emergency, intensive care, the delivery room, chemotherapy, palliative care and hospice. Yvonne became disheartened by our society’s reluctance to talk about, plan and prepare for grief and how it causes excessive suffering in life and at the end of life. She suffered too not knowing how to do it differently. At age 50, she took a leap of faith, left her nursing career and blazed a new trail to help create a culture of change. She shares her message with heart and humour as an Inspirational Speaker, with her book Love Your Life to Death, as a TV Host and through social media. She has been featured in several books, newspapers and magazines, including Zoomer and Hospital News. Yvonne is the founder of the IJustShowedUp movement. Teaching people of all ages to show up for themselves and others, so they are empowered and resilient when grief arrives. She is married to her best friend Geordie, has three amazing children and is loving life in beautiful Muskoka, Canada.

Research Interest

Creating a culture of change where we talk about, plan and prepare for grief, death and dying long before if arrives and diffuse the fear; and alleviate excessive suffering in life and at end of life. Yvonne has interviewed hundreds of people from all demographics, experiences, and professions to validate the need for change now.