Hospice nurse shares the six 'unimaginable phenomena' people experience on their 'death bed'

Seeing someone come to the end of their life can be incredibly unnerving, especially when they start displaying odd or inexplicable behaviours.

These are all normal though, as a hospice nurse has explained that there are actually six things that are 'unimaginable', but happens when somebody is on their death bed.

Julie McFadden is a registered nurse in Los Angeles whose specialty lies in hospice care, with the health professional building up a large social media following of over one million across her several channels.

The 41-year-old makes videos explaining occurrences that happen at the end of people's lives, attempting to take the negativity from the process of death and dying away completely.

Having previously explained several phenomena that occurs before someone's death, she has taken to YouTube once again to share six more phenomena surrounding someone's death, having witnessed it several times in hospice care.

Julie said that she saw none of this as an ICU nurse, with her current job exposing her to what really happens before death.

The nurse is also releasing a book in June 2024, about experiences before death (Youtube/Hospice Nurse Julie)

She stated that these things don't happen to everyone, 'but it does happen enough that I like to educate about it'.

Despite feeling uncomfortable about them at first, she was educated on it, and had learnt to explain what was happening to the families, 'because it happens so often'.

So these are the six things to look out for, according to Nurse Julie.

A burst of energy

Explaining that it happened 'very often', she is unsure why those nearing death show a spike in energy, though she urged people to 'enjoy' the time with your loved one during their final days.

"Just enjoy it and expect that maybe they will die soon after because that's the kicker with terminal lucidity, it looks like someone's going to die very soon then suddenly they have a burst of energy," she explained.

She said that patients would be hungry all of a sudden, or would be able to walk again, suddenly becoming more alert and oriented, though just a day or two later, they will pass away.

Strange things can happen when someone is dying (Getty Stock Image/Marco VDM)

Experiencing 'visioning'

The next phenomenon has been described by Julie as 'visioning' while they are on the brink of death, which is similar to hallucinations.

This can happen for weeks before the person's death, with the nurse admitting that she would have been sceptical if she hadn't seen it herself multiple times.

Julie explained that again, you have to 'just go with it' if someone is 'visioning', though this can happen up to 'a month away from death'.

Choosing when they die

This might stretch credulity, but Julie says she has seen people when they're 'choosing when they're going to die'.

She explained: "I have seen some extreme cases of this, people just saying, 'tonight's when I'm going to die I know it, I can feel it,' and they do.

"There's also a time when people will wait for everybody to get into town or get into the room arrive at the house whatever it is and then they will die."

A really chilling phenomenon, but it's worth noting if you're seeing a loved one in their final days.

Some of the phenomena may spook you out, but they are all perfectly normal (Instagram/hospicenursejulie)

The 'death reach'

Julie explained that this happens when someone is lying in bed, and they reach up in the air, almost like they're reaching for someone, or seeing someone, and she has seen some hold their hands up for a long period of time.

"[It's] like they're seeing something that we're not seeing and they're reaching for someone that we can't see," the nurse revealed.

The death stare

This often goes with the 'death reach', according to the hospice expert.

"It usually looks like someone is staring off into the corner of the room or the side of the room basically looking at something intently, but if you're snapping your finger in front of their face or trying to say their name to kind of snap them out of it, they won't," Julie said.

In what might be more of the eerie phenomena, it's reassuring to know this is relatively common.

Having a 'shared death experience'

Nurse Julie described this as the 'most impactful', explaining: "A shared death experience is when someone who is not dying feels or sees or understands what's happening to the person who is dying.

"It's kind of like the dying person gives you the sensation of what they're going through."

The health expert did detail that sometimes it may not be a good thing, depending on the person, but from her experiences and stories, she says that it is usually a positive thing.

"It was like the person was giving me these feelings of freedom and joy and kind of telling me that they were OK and basically they couldn't believe how amazing it was," she explained.

Julie concluded: "At the time, I was shell shocked, I didn't know what was happening, but I've come to find out that that's called a shared death experience."