Healthcare workers in palliative care and hospice often witness deeply emotional moments while supporting patients in the final stage of life.

A nurse with many years of experience in palliative care recently shared an observation that has garnered attention online. She explained that some patients gently raise their hands or extend their arms upward shortly before passing away, a movement that many caregivers report having noticed as well.

Katie Duncan, a hospice and palliative care nurse in Maryland, often speaks about helping families understand what the end of life can be like. Through her work in hospitals, intensive care units, and patients’ homes, she has observed certain patterns in the behavior of some patients at the end of their lives. One of these patterns is when patients slowly raise their arms or reach upward, as if trying to touch or grasp something invisible.