Hospice Nurse Describes 'Beautiful' Visions Reported by the Dying

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — A Los Angeles hospice nurse has set out to make death a less frightening subject, according to a report in the Daily Star, by describing what she says many patients experience in their final weeks and days.

Julie McFadden, known online as Hospice Nurse Julie and credited with 1.7 million followers on TikTok, says in a YouTube video that certain "end-of-life phenomena" occur in most people. The first she calls the "death stare," in which a patient becomes fixated on one part of the room and does not move their gaze, even when a hand is snapped before their face.

The second is what she terms "visioning." By her account, patients see people who have already died, usually loved ones, and hold conversations with figures the living cannot see. Some talk to the unseen visitors, she says, and some wear a broad smile as though watching something that pleases them very much.

Ms. McFadden recalled one patient with a "huge smile" who seemed to be watching someone "over there" in the room. She said she wanted his wife to witness it, because such episodes can offer a rough timeline, usually beginning a few weeks to a month before death.

What people report seeing, she says, tends to follow their faith. Some describe Jesus, God or angels, others speak of clouds or flowers, and some perceive no deity at all. Her chief reassurance, as reported, is that people at this stage are usually happy and smiling.

The article offers no clinical study or independent commentary on the phenomena. It presents them as the nurse's own observations, shared in the hope of encouraging families to talk about dying and to prepare for what she calls a "good death."