The Heart of Hospice Podcast

Everyone who works in hospice has heard the comment, "I wish we hadn't waiting so long to call hospice."  Or "I wish we had known about hospice sooner."   There are many variations of those comments, but they basically communicate how much better it might have been for the patient and family if hospice had been involved sooner in the disease process.   In this week's Five for Friday, Helen and Jer...

Veterans Day 2017 In this Five for Friday episode, Helen & Jerry share the work that many hospices are doing across the United States, to honor the military veterans on hospice.  NHPCO began a program several years ago called "We Honor Veterans."  The purpose of this program is to care for and honor those who have served when they reach the end of life.   On this Veterans Day, 2017, The Heart...

November is National Hospice & Palliative Care Month, and the theme for this year is "It's about how you live."   At The Heart of Hospice we are always encouraging people to remember that hospice isn't about dying, but about living.  This special recognition of hospice & palliative care is to remind everyone what hospice care is really all about it.   * It's not a place, but a philosophy o...

November is National Hospice & Palliative Care Month in the United States.  The theme for 2017 is "It's about how you live."  To recognize the significance of hospice & palliative care we had the opportunity to interview Jon Radulovic, VP of Communication from the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization.  Jon has worked with hospice organizations for over 20 years, and he share...

October is American Pharmacist Month.  Pharmacists serve a very important role for the hospice industry.  They are critical in allowing hospices to provide the comfort care that's at the heart of the hospice mission.   In this episode, Helen & Jerry discuss the work that pharmacists do in managing medicines for the care of hospice patients.  They also help hospice agencies provide optimum care...

Wouldn't it be great if there was a book that could help caregivers thrive, and not just survive?  There is one! Our friends at 365 Caregiving Tips have just published a new book called, 365 Caregiving Tips: Hospitals, Care Facilities and Hospice.  This book was written by the team of writers at 365caregivingtips.com.  They're more than just a team, though, they're a group of friends who have pers...

October 9-16 is Hospice Care Week in the United Kingdom, and we wanted to honor and recognize our hospice colleagues in Great Britain for the tremendous work that they do in end of life care.   The modern hospice movement was begun in Great Britain through the work of Dame Cicely Saunders in the 1950's.  Through her passion and efforts, St. Christopher's Hospice was founded in 1967, and they celeb...

By the time Lauren Sampson was 7 years old, she had been hospitalized more than 50 times.  She endured the typical healthcare treatments and procedures.  On top of all of that, she also faced the daily visits from healthcare professionals who didn't always use good manners.  They would often enter her room without knocking, begin probing before telling her who they were, and what they were going t...

As hospice professionals, we often feel like we know what it's like for the family who has a loved one on hospice.  Until we've actually had that experience we may not really understand what they're going through.   In today's episode, Helen shares a personal story of taking care of a family friend who had named her as her Medical Power of Attorney.  Helen shares some of the lessons she learned fr...

One of the best, and most comprehensive books we have ever read on the subject of caregiving has just recently been released.  Living With Dying is written by 2 friends who have extensive experience as hospice caregivers.   Jahnna Beecham & Katie Ortlip wrote this book after Jahnna served as her dad's personal caregiver while he was on hospice.  Katie, a hospice social worker, was part of the...

As hospice professionals, we believe very strongly in 2 things: 1) Empowering people to create advance directives regarding their health care.  2) Using smartphone apps. Ok, so #2 is not really something we believe in that strongly. However, this 5 for Friday podcast shares an incredible smartphone app that can help empower people to create advance directives regarding their health care decisions....

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) is a non-profit advocacy group based in Alexandria, Virginia.  Their mission is to be advocates for terminally ill patients and their families, as well as providing education and training for those who serve terminally ill patients.   In this episode, Helen and Jerry discuss the NHPCO's newest educational venue, the NHPCO podcast.  NHPC...

Hospice Compare is a new online resource provided by Medicare.gov that can assist you in making an informed decision when you're needing to choose a hospice provider.   The information listed on the website is based on surveys that are submitted electronically to Medicare from people whose loved ones have actually received services, as well as information that the hospice agency provides.  For eac...

This is our Hurricane Harvey Special Edition Episode.  Due to the impacts of Hurricane Harvey, Helen and Jerry were unable to record this episode in the usual place and manner.  Instead, Helen was at her mother's home in Houston providing caregiver assistance to her mom, and Jerry was at his home near Beaumont.  The episode was recorded using Skype and a microphone, since they weren't in the same...

The first half of 2017 has come and gone, and now the calendar says it's almost time for school to start again.  Where did the time go?  It's time to do a "reset" on our self care, and Helen and Jerry discuss a way to do that in this episode of Five for Friday.   One of the best ways to stay motivated with a goal, any goal, is to remember your successes.  So lets share our self care success storie...

In 2011, Bronnie Ware, a palliative care nurse, published a book based on the comments of the dying patients that she served, called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. In her book she details the 5 reasons.   In this episode, Helen & Jerry share those 5 regrets and encourages the listener to live a life of no regrets.  Most of us will come to the end of our lives, not with regrets about what w...

Whether it's been a difficult day or an amazing day, self care after work should still be an important part of your daily routine.  Helen & Jerry share some strategies to make self care a daily priority. How do you keep from taking your work home with you?  It's easy for hospice professionals to do that when you're passionate about your work.  Burnout, compassion fatigue, and harmed family rel...

Hospice professionals spend many hours on the road, traveling from patient to patient, often with little time to take care of their own personal needs.  In this episode, Helen & Jerry discuss the importance of practicing self care when you're on the road, including some recommendations for healthy self care.   For more information about self care, visit our website at www.theheartofhospice.com...

Tuesday, August 1, marks the 1 year anniversary that The Heart of Hospice podcast has been in production.  In honor of this milestone Helen and Jerry take time to reflect on the past year. This mission we call The Heart of Hospice was created for the purpose of educating and enriching the lives of hospice patients, personal caregivers, and hospice professionals.  In the past year we’ve discussed t...

In this 5 for Friday Helen & Jerry discuss the findings of a recent study regarding the power of "behavioral synchrony," and how touch between partners can actually diminish a patient's pain.  A recent study by research scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder discovered the role of touch in relation to pain relief. This study seemed to confirm what hospice providers have believed, tha...

Statistics say that 35% of Americans report sleep quality of poor or only fair. So, more than a third of the country is sleep deprived. It's even worse for personal caregivers of terminally ill patients. Studies show that caregivers for a terminally ill patient have more difficulty sleeping. However, sleep improves after hospice is initiated. The National Sleep Foundation ( www.sleepfoundation.org...

In January, 2014, Rhonda's daughter and son-in-law were murdered. As a hospice RN working as an admissions nurse, Rhonda was accustomed to seeing death and the grief that often followed. The death of her daughter was different, it was personal and tragic.  Rhonda worked with Helen & Jerry when this tragedy occurred. She recently sat down with them to share her story, and to talk about how she...

In this week's Five for Friday episode, Helen tells a personal story related to a recent travel experience. It's all about the diversity that we find in our world. As hospice professionals we serve a diverse population. No 2 people are alike, and we're called upon to serve all of them. Are we prepared to do that?  For more resources on how to serve the diverse hospice population please visit these...

It takes an entire team to serve hospice patients and their families, besides the core team of doctors, nurses, social workers, spiritual counselors, and volunteer coordinators. There are also therapists who provide specialized care, but there's a very important person who fills a much needed role: the nurse practitioner.  The nurse practitioner provides skilled care that meets a need between what...

Professional hospice caregivers are people, too. Which means that even on our best days we make mistakes. With the best of intentions we sometimes say the wrong things.  Helen & Jerry share some of the embarrassing things they've said that led them to create a list of the Top 10 Things Hospice Professionals Should Never Say. This list is not comprehensive, and they're not in any particular ord...