My Service Learning Experience INTRODUCTION TO THE ENVIRONMENT: Catholic Hospice is an organization focused on caring and not curing. Their vision is to serve as a community focused non-profit healthcare organization for Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties focused on serving patients and families who are faced with a terminal illness, by providing faith based compassionate care for persons at the end of life and support for those who love and care for them. Through the utilization of an interdisciplinary team of healthcare professionals and trained volunteers to address symptom control, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support expressly tailored to a patient's needs and wishes, while assisting others in understanding and accepting …show more content…
Their mission statement is as follows: “Catholic hospice provides comprehensive quality care for the terminally ill and their families in the spirit of the healing mission of Jesus. We are dedicated to preserving the dignity of individuals of all faiths, supporting those dealing with the challenges of death and bereavement, and fostering acceptance for transitions in life. Through education and example, Catholic Hospice gives testimony that dying is a sacred part of life’s journey which permits one’s life events to come together in a most profound way.” The organization searches for Compassion Care Volunteers to provide companionship to hospice patios and respite to caregivers by playing games with patients, singing, reading, or simply spending time sitting with them. The organization provides specialized training to serve hospice patients and provide support to meet the specific needs of terminally ill patients living in their own homes, nursing homes, or assisted living or medical
Final Gifts, written by hospice care workers, Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelly, includes various stories detailing each of their life changing experiences that they encountered with their patients. Hospice care allows the patient to feel comfortable in their final days or months before they move on to their next life. This book contains the information considered necessary to understand and deal with the awareness, needs, and interactions of those who are dying. Not only are there stories told throughout the book, there are also tips for one to help cope with knowing someone is dying and how to make their death a peaceful experience for everyone involved. It is important that everyone involved is at as much peace as the person dying in the
God tells his children, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation). Death is one of the most frightening and confusing times a person can go through. Watching a loved one pass away is also one of the hardest trials a person can experience. Many people assume that death is a time of pain and the only thing that they can do is mourn and watch their loved one fade away from the earth. This is wrong. There are ways that people can turn a bad situation to good. Dying doesn’t have to be painful and full of suffering. The County Hospice staff makes sure of this. The Hospice staff not only takes care of passing patients physically, but they also take care of the patients emotionally and spiritually. Hospice staff also plays a key role in helping families during the grieving process.
Being in hospice care is a better alternative than being stuck in the hospital to try to avoid the unavoidable. Common misconceptions about Hospice could include that hospice makes life more miserable; however, a physician expressed his findings in Hospice,“You can only fail a patient if you fail to understand and respond to their needs. We may not be able to cure all of our patients, but if we can make them comfortable in the last moments of their lives, we will not have failed them”..Hospice care gradually emerged in the 1970s, when groups like the National Hospice Organization were formed “in response to the unmet needs of dying patients and their families for whom traditional medical care was no longer effective.”Herbert Hendin, an executive director of the American Suicide Foundations illustrates a story of a young man diagnosed with acute myelocytic leukemia and was expected to have only a few months before he died. He persistently asked the doctor to assist him, but he eventually accepted the medical treatment. His doctor told him he can use his time wisely to become close to his family. Two days before he died, Tim talked about what he would have missed without the opportunity for a
Adam Davis author of What We Don’t Talk About When We Don’t Talk About Service states “What separates our form of service from other forms of service is above all its voluntary character, which is revealed or confirmed by the fact that service work is non remunerative, or barely remunerative.” Its all about that character that is inside of you, I have to have the right character every day when going into Hospice because I need to be the one that brings the excitement and joy to my patients. I have to have that connection with them each day to be able to see how they are feeling and what I can do to make their day
Christ, G., & Blacker, S. E. (nd). Social Work’s unique Contribution to Palliative Care. Council on Social Work Education, CWSE Gero-Ed Center, National Center for Gerontological Social Work Education. Retrieved from http://www.cswe.org/CentersInitiatives/CurriculumResources/MAC/Reviews/Health/22739/22741.aspx.
The hospice aide’s job duties varies depending on the patient. If the hospice patient is in good condition, the job duties are very similar to that of the nursing home CNA. The hospice aide’s main goal is to maintain the patient’s dignity while providing the most comforting care possible. Many hospice patients are referring to as being on “comfort cares” – meaning if they don’t want to eat, they aren’t forced to. The hospice aide’s job is a hard one, as any CNA’s is, but perhaps more so, as they lose their patients at a higher
On February 14th I spent a day doing something I never thought I would do in a million years, I went to hospice. I always thought I would hate hospice, but I actually didn’t mind it too much, it isn’t a job I see myself doing in the future but it is a job that I understand why people do it and why they enjoy it. During this observation I was touched by how much these nurses really seem to care for each of the patients that they have.
Hospice focuses on end of life care. When patients are facing terminal illness and have an expected life sentence of days to six months or less of life. Care can take place in different milieu including at home, hospice care center, hospital, and skilled nursing facility. Hospice provides patients and family the tool and resources of how to come to the acceptance of death. The goal of care is to help people who are dying have peace, comfort, and dignity. A team of health care providers and volunteers are responsible for providing care. A primary care doctor and a hospice doctor or medical director will patients care. The patient is allowed to decide who their primary doctor will be while receiving hospice care. It may be a primary care physician or a hospice physician. Nurses provide care at home by vising patient at home or in a hospital setting facility. Nurses are responsible for coordination of the hospice care team. Home health aides provide support for daily and routine care ( dressing, bathing, eating and etc). Spiritual counselors, Chaplains, priests, lay ministers or other spiritual counselors can provide spiritual care and guidance for the entire family. Social workers provide counseling and support. They can also provide referrals to other support systems. Pharmacists provide medication oversight and suggestions regarding the most effective
Wessel, EM, and DN Rutledge. "Home Care and Hospice Nurses' Attitudes toward Death and Caring for the Dying: Effects of Palliative Care Education." Journal Of Hospice & Palliative Nursing 7.4 (2005). 212-218. CINAHL. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.
Hospice Care refers to the focus on quality of care and life rather than treatment and curative options for someone and their disease. This type of care includes not only the patient, but also their family and physician. Dame Cicely Saunders states, “You matter because of who you are. You matter to the last moment of your life, and we will do all we can, not only to help you die peacefully, but also to live until you die.” With this quote, Saunders reflects what Hospice believes in and their commitment, or duty, for the patient. Patients who are terminally ill can be considered as patients with cancer, diabetes, and many more diseases. Very few cancer patients have a type of cancer that has a known cure, and unlike those patients many other cancer patients possess a type of cancer that is curable today. Terminally ill patients have to choose between continuing treatment or being provided with Hospice Care. Both hope and Hospice means that the patient can have both the benefit from treatments, which give them hope that the disease could be cured or at least reduce the symptoms, and Hospice Care, which provides the patients with relieve of pain and
“Persons intentionally choose to become nurses to help patients meet their health needs,” even when the patient is actively dying. (Wu & Volker, 2012) Hospice nursing and palliative care nursing are both considered end of life care. However, hospice nursing is typically given to patients with a terminal illness and who have less than six months to live. Palliative care is typically given to patients with a life threatening illness, and is used to increase the patient’s quality of life. Choosing a nursing career in either hospice or palliative care can be extremely difficult, but will provide an opportunity for great personal growth. At times, an end-of-life caregiver may feel responsible for their patient’s death, or they may feel isolated due to a lack of support. Nurses new to this field should “feel that their unit acknowledges death as a difficult event and that discussion of death is acceptable in the workplace.” (Lewis, 2013) The most rewarding, and also most difficult, part of being a hospice or palliative care nurse is the ability to be a part of your patient and their family’s life, including their loss, grief, and death. (Wu & Volker, 2012)
My first encounter with hospice was on the receiving end and I remember asking the hospice nurse that first day, “How can you do this every day?” I will never forget her answer, “Hospice is not about dying, it’s about affirming life, helping people live their last days to the fullest.” During the next several months, I began to understand how true her words were. Today, as a volunteer, those words echo in my mind each time I’m about to meet a new patient.
Palliative care “focuses more broadly on improving life and providing comfort to people of all ages with serious, chronic, and life-threatening illnesses” (http://www.WebMD.com). Palliative care is not the same as hospice, since it is not only for the dying. According ...
When I took care of my uncle last year in home hospice, I encountered this strength of spirit. As he tirelessly battled cancer, I saw his need for personal interaction, validation and compassion. I had the privilege to support him during his journey and learned a lot about myself in the process. I developed a stronger, more personal relationship with him, learning that people continue to forge on and search for joy in their lives despite astounding odds. This moved
The care provided must to improve the quality of patient‘s remaining life as there is little likelihood of cure for their diseases. The care is to ensure a dignified death. Nurse’s role in palliative care includes promoting wellness. Nurses are to promote wellness at the end of life for patient, by ensuring the patient has a good death. (Miller 2012, p.575)