The Heart of Hospice Podcast

This week continues our grief series with our friend and special guest LPC Chuck Olliff. In our discussion today we explore grief that’s disenfranchised, extended, or recurs long after the loss. It’s the kind of grief society tells us isn’t ours to own but it occurs more often than we think. Chuck offers insight on dealing with this type of grief and how to make it through those emotional moments...

Grief will often surprise us with something we didn't expect. The "I didn't know it would feel like this" moments. In this series of Heartbeat episodes LPC Chuck Olliff shares his insights on ways to cope with the unexpected components of grief.  In today's episode we discuss how to cope with guilt, regret and shame after a death.  These emotions often surprise us with their intensity.  Chuck shar...

Many people want to show appreciation to their hospice team for providing exceptional care. In this episode Helen & Jerry discuss how you can express your gratitude in ways that are thoughtful...and legal.   Hospice agencies and their staff are not allowed to accept gifts from patients and their families.  Small, inexpensive items may be allowable (check with your hospice administrator), but l...

Accrediting organizations such as Joint Commission, CHAP, and ACHC give confidence to consumers that a healthcare agency or facility is providing quality care that can be trusted. This is good information to know if you're hospice shopping. Joint Commission, Community Health Accreditation Partner, (CHAP) Accreditation Commission for Health Care, (ACHC), are responsible for surveying hospice agenci...

Hospice Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers & Systems (CAHPS) is a survey that measures the quality of the care provided by hospice as determined by the patient and family. These surveys can reveal a hospice agency's strengths and weaknesses.  Many people will read reviews about a product or service before making a purchase.  Reviews help reveal a company's reputation for providing qua...

Burnout is a very serious condition that needs to be effectively managed before it creates severe problems for the person suffering from burnout.  In this episode Dr. Clark Gaither tells how you can save yourself from burnout and live a life of passion and purpose.   Dr. Gaither is a board-certified family physician in North Carolina, who suffered a major burnout event after 23 years of practicing...

National Nurses Week is May 6-12 in the U.S. and in honor of hospice nurses everywhere we turn down the serious for a few moments to recognize the profession that is the heart of hospice.   National nurses week begins on May 6 and ends on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale. This week puts the spotlight on the 4 million nursing professionals that have received the honor of being the most...

Documentation is critically important in any healthcare setting, and it's no less important in hospice. Every hospice discipline is required to document their care and interventions with patients and family. In this episode we discuss the purpose and power of documentation.   Every discipline must document every interaction they have with a patient or a member of the patient's care team.  This is...

Being a personal caregiver for a terminally ill patient on hospice can be one of the most difficult roles and one of the most rewarding ones, too. Jahnna Beecham, co-author of Living with Dying, tells us about her experiences as a personal caregiver for her mom and dad.   Jahnna shares her raw and honest emotions of what she was experiencing before, during, and after her parents received hospice. ...

The National Association of Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) is a professional organization that represents the professional caregivers who care for chronically ill, disabled, and terminally ill patients in a home care setting. NAHC is committed to providing educational offerings through many different mediums, including webinars, newsletters, conferences, email updates, etc.  Their staff also provide...

The Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) is committed to excellence in the care of the dying, grief counseling, and research in thanatology. In this episode of Heartbeat we share information about the role and purpose of ADEC. ADEC wants to help educate professionals who work in the field of death, dying, and bereavement, including mental health professionals, social workers, coun...

Sarah Kerr is a death doula and ritual healing practitioner. She uses the healing power of rituals to bring comfort and peace to those who are left to grieve following a death. In this episode you will learn more about her work as a death doula, and the rituals and practices she uses during the death and dying process. During our interview Sarah shares her journey of becoming a death doula, and he...

National Healthcare Decisions Day is April 16, and the purpose of National Healthcare Decisions Day is to encourage everyone to have the conversation about their advance care plans with family, friends and healthcare providers.  Learn more about NHDD in this episode. From the NHDD website: “NHDD, an initiative of The Conversation Project , exists as a 50-state annual initiative to provide clear, c...

This podcast episode will introduce our listeners to the crucial work of an end of life doula. What is an end of life doula? A doula is a person with special training to assist the dying person and their family through the dying process with greater comfort and deeper meaning. Learn more about the International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA) by visiting their website . INELDA was founded i...

The role of the nurse practitioner in hospice has expanded over the past several years, and the outcome has been an improvement in the overall quality of patient care. In this episode we sit down with hospice nurse practitioner Tiffany Hughes to learn more about the real life work of a hospice NP.   In 2011, the U.S. Medicare system began requiring that all hospice patients in the third or later h...

In this episode the spotlight shines on the National Council of Hospice & Palliative Care Professionals (NCHPP). Through the leadership of the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), the NCHPP provides resources and education to hospice professionals of every discipline.  Membership in the NCHPP is open to professionals or volunteers who work, volunteer or are simply inter...

March is #SocialWorkMonth and we want to recognize and celebrate the outstanding work of the hospice social worker. In this episode we celebrate the champions of the hospice interdisciplinary team: the social worker.  A hospice social worker faces many challenging situations in caring for hospice patients and their families.  Assess the caregiving system Provide referrals for community resources &...

National Certified Nurses Day is March 19, and we want to recognize all of those nurses who have gone the extra mile to become Certified Hospice & Palliative Care nurses (CHPN). Thank you from The Heart of Hospice for your outstanding professionalism.   Nurses aren't the only ones who can receive the hospice & palliative care certifications.  Doctors, aides, social workers, and chaplains c...

Safety is important no matter who you are: patient, caregiver, nurse, staff member.  And no matter where you are: home, hospital, hospice, nursing facility. Safety--your safety, and ours--is a matter of great importance when someone is on hospice.  The primary goal of hospice is comfort, so it makes sense that hospice personnel want to do everything possible to help patients and caregivers maintai...

Lizzy Miles shares how she began the first Death Cafe in America in Episode 33, and the natural progression of her work in hospice from volunteer to social worker to Pallimed editor.   The name of Lizzy Miles will be familiar to anyone who has ever attended a Death Cafe. In the introduction that's read by the facilitator at every Death Cafe, Lizzy is given credit as the person who started the firs...

The purpose of "pleasure feedings" is just what the name implies, for pleasure, or comfort. The goal of hospice is to help make the patient as comfortable as possible, and that includes helping them enjoy every aspect of life, including food.   Pleasure feedings are often used when a person's appetite decreases, or they can no longer tolerate normal foods. In place of normal foods, they're offered...

One of the enduring myths about hospice is that a patient’s medications are discontinued when they’re admitted to hospice. We’re talking about medication management on this episode, and exploring the reasons why this myth has endured. One of the most important goals of care for a hospice patient is symptom management, and one of the ways that’s accomplished is through the proper use of medications...

In the latest survey (2016), almost 42% of hospice patients were receiving hospice care in a long-term care facility. In today’s episode you can learn how the hospice agency and the long term care facility coordinate care for a hospice patient. 98% of hospice patients receive hospice care while living at home, but “home” can be defined in many ways: a private residence, an assisted living facility...

Barbara Karnes was one of our first guests on the podcast, and she returns as our very first guest to have a second interview. Barbara Karnes is a hospice pioneer who wrote “the little blue book” called, Gone From My Sight. In this episode she shares how a referral to hospice can be a win/win. We also talk about her newest book about coping with a pet’s death, A Place in My Heart. To read Barbara’...

It’s now the end of January.  How are you doing on reaching your goals for 2019?  One of the best ways to improve your chances of success is to enlist an accountability partner. In this episode Helen & Jerry share the value of accountability partnerships. Trying to reach a goal alone is difficult. According to a study by the American Society for Training and Development, 25% of people who set...