Hospice Care

Zerich Tue 04 May 2010, 11:30 pm

Hospice Care Can Help Treat Fear and Grief

I didn't know that she would soon die. She didn't show any of the changes that they train us to look for when someone gets close to the end. The nursing staff had called at 3:00 AM because things were somehow different. There was nothing they really could put their finger on but she was just...... different.

As an on call Hospice nurse, you learn to listen when someone is just uneasy about things and would like a visit just for the comfort of experience and a calm point of view. I arrived to find a small woman so old that she had regressed to the point of almost looking like a little girl again. She lay in her bed clutching a teddy bear and watching me with bright eyes as I set next to her and began to speak. Hospice care is about moments like this. There are many misconseptions, as some people think that hospices drug people to the point they no longer make sense, or even that they kill people.

A hospice does not do those things. They try to help with pain, wheither the pain is physical, emotional, or spiritual. They focus on caring instead of curing, because hospice patients are often past the point when their condition can be cured. They do get better sometimes and "Graduate" from the hospice program because they no longer need us. In 2008, 212,000 of the nearly 1,5 million patients receiving hospice services were discharged (alive) for various reasons.

It helps to have someone there, however, just to take care of you when needed, available 24/7, and usually free of any charge. Terminal patients live an average of 29 days longer on hospice programs, although much of the care given is actually for the families that are being left behind.

The first hospice program started in 1974 and there are 4,850 of them today. This is because so many diseases, like Cancer or Altzheimer's disease, place a huge burden on caregivers. It is also because dealing with death is a difficult thing. Many people wonder wheither a loved one would benefit from hospice care, but are afraid to raise the issue and don't want to seem like they are giving up.An inate fear of death is also often present. A 2005 gallup poll showed the fear of death to be third most common fear in the US after terrorist attacks and spiders.

I didn't know what to tell my little patient that night so many years agi. I never do, but I have learned to pray for guidance. It is during those dark hours and those dark times in our lives that you sometimes find the greatest beauty.

As a father it came easily to me that night. She looked so much like a little girl, that I told her stories. I told her stories abiut great journeys, of crossing bridges, of beautiful new worlds, and of Heaven. I also told her stories of being in the Arms of her Heavenly Father. I told her stories of death and dying and helped her to not be afraid. I was told that she had passed on just before giving report to my hospice family the next morning.

If the need should arise, do not be afraid of admission to a hospice program. Fear is a natural response, but it can also prevent you from confronting important issues with grief. Decide for yourself wheither we can help or not instead of believing horror stories. A hospice does not speed up or slow down the dieing process. We just try to help share the burden and ease the pain.

This was written by an R.N. who worked with Hospice. I myself am familiar with the Hospice program,, first when going through the death of a mother-in-law. They were extremely helpful for over three months with her, with bathing, and other cares, as well as supplying the use of some medical equipment. Much training was given to her husband in helping with these difficulties. The last two weeks of her life , she was in a coma. Her nurse prayed with her every visit. The nurse also explained that the hearing was the last thing to go. We were told to talk with her. Tough things to deal with alone. The second time I dealt with hospice cares was in working at a senior facility in my job. There were three different patients that hospice cares were used. The same care was done with the patients there,,, that My mother-in-law received. Very very tender Spiritual, end of life care was given as well.

Zerich