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What They Want You to Know:
Hospice Nurse
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By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
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n its hospice care page, Nursesource.org states, “The focus of hospice care is on comprehensive physical, psychosocial, emotional, and spiritual care to terminally ill persons and their families.” Hospice nurses are an important part of the hospice team. • “We can help them define their goals of care when they have a life-limiting prognosis like cancer, COPD or any life-limiting illness. • “Patients and families are pretty good about asking questions. Some ask everything and others say, ‘Tell us what we need to know.’ • Hospice doesn’t just provide care at home. We also provide care at nursing facilities where we have contracts, and at Francis House. We can start the process when someone’s hospitalized. We can provide care in group homes. So it’s for anybody with a life-limiting illness. It’s not just for home. • “I think the hospice 101 lesson is, ‘We can’t fix it if we don’t know it’s broke.’ We’re enabling and empowering families to tell us what they need so we can meet them. Without them being the captain of the ship, we can’t go where we need them to. It’s their job to direct us in what they need. Kim Blomgren, admissions patient care manager at Hospice of Central New York, Liverpool • “We as a hospice team can help [and] maybe improve quality of life when there’s no reasonable hope for a cure. There’s no aggressive treatment. I wish people knew more about us and how we can help before the very end stages of a disease. • “People think we’re there to help them die, which is partly true, in the sense of helping them have a good and
comfortable death, but we’re there to help them live in the last stage of life. We can help them stay comfortable. • “We’re not just there for cancer patients.” Norma Olcott, registered nurse and case manager with Hospice of the Finger Lakes Cayuga County in Auburn • “It’s very important that we are updated on any changes that are going on with the patients and any concerns the family has. The sooner we are aware, the more proactive we can be in meeting their needs. • “One thing we like to emphasize with patients and family is that we like to think of hospice care as one-stop shopping. You can make one phone call. If your family member has a hospital bed that’s not working, we can make arrangements for the manufacturer to fix the bed. Or if you need prescription refills. The family can call us and we can take it from there. Sometimes, they’re waiting for a call back from a doctor’s office and we can facilitate that and maybe get that call more quickly.” Denise Rife, registered nurse at Hospice of Central New York, Liverpool
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Deborah Jeanne Sergeant is a writer with In Good Health. “What Your Doctor Wants You to Know” is an ongoing column that appears monthly to give our area’s healthcare professionals an opportunity to share how patients can improve their care by helping their providers and by helping themselves.
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