“After years of working in retail, I was inspired by a dear friend to become a nurse. I graduated nursing school full of passion and the desire to help sick people and make the world a better place. Over the past eight years, I have saved lives through direct action, and advocacy. I have been honored to hold the hand of a dying patient, I have met and cared for so many wonderful people I will never forget. Throughout my career as a nurse, I have taken care of pediatric psychiatric patients, ICU, geriatric patients in the hospital and care facilities, and everything in between. Through all of this, I have been struck by the exorbitant cost of care given towards the end of life that provided no improvement to the quality of life. I watched people who had worked their entire lives to leave a financial legacy to their children and grandchildren have it disappear for futile medical care. Even more heartbreaking is the human cost in pain and suffering of the individual receiving aggressive care, and the stress and turmoil caused amongst the family and loved ones. I have watched families torn apart because of a disagreement on how to care for a beloved grandmother. These heartbreaks, and the passion to help others and leave the world a better place, spawned the idea for Legacy Planning. If I can help people better understand the healthcare system and the treatments available, we can work together to make a plan to eliminate waste and suffering on unwanted care, reduce the stress and turmoil for their families, and memorialize the values, principles, and wisdom of a well-lived life.”

-Ben Kraft MSN BC-RN