Joy Ufema

Early life and education Her mother was Cecelia Counsel (1916–1984) from Eldorado, Pennsylvania, and her father Ernest Victor Counsel (1917–1965) was a machinist for the Pennsylvania Railroad in Altoona. After leaving high school, Ufema failed her training as a nurse at Altoona Hospital School of Nursing in 1961. Following a stint working at Warren State Hospital as a psychiatric aide, she returned to Harrisburg to complete her nurse's training at Harrisburg Community College.

Career Ufema's interest in helping dying patients began when she was working as a urology nurse in 1972. She persuaded the hospital to allow her to tend to terminal patients after hearing a speech by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. In her job, she granted several last wishes to her patients, which prompted complaints from her fellow nurses that she had been given too much autonomy.

One of Ufema's early publications was an article called "What to Say to Members After a Family Death". She has served as guest lecturer and consultant for several schools and medical facilities. In 1984, she wrote Brief Companions, describing her work as a nurse thanatologist at Harrisburg Hospital. She was featured in a 1991 video, Dealing with Death and Dying. In 2007, she published Insights on Death & Dying, a collection of her columns since 1987 for a nursing journal. Following a recommendation made by Ufema, the hospice was closed on November 22, 1996, after it suffered from financial difficulties. She worked for Upper Chesapeake Medical Center/Harford Memorial Hospital as their Clinical Specialist in Thanatology before her retirement.

Many medical volunteers have stated Ufema influenced them to work in the sector. Ufema asked her patients what it was like to be seriously ill and encouraged them to take control over the remainder of their lives. She was the first nurse-thanatologist in the United States.

Honors Ufema was honored with the Distinguished Pennsylvanian award in 1980, and was named as a Distinguished Alumni Award winner by the Altoona Area School District Foundation in 2004.