The Heart of Hospice Podcast

There are many great advantages to pet therapy in the hospice setting.  1. Reduces a person's anxiety. 2. Lowers blood pressure. 3. Comforts agitation. 4. Eases depression. 5. Improves socialization. 6. Provides companionship. 7. Bereavement care. There are many advantages to this complementary therapy that can improve the quality of life for hospice patients. For more information, visit our websi...

Hospice care is holistic care. One of the core philosophies of hospice is to provide care for the whole person: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual care. These are the core practices provided by hospice. However, there are adjunct therapies that can be provided to enhance the hospice experience, and help improve quality of life for the patient and the family.  In this episode, Helen and Jer...

Dame Cicely Saunders was born on June 22, 1918 in the United Kingdom. She is best known for creating the modern hospice movement that now serves terminally ill patients all over the world.  She was trained as a nurse, but also became a medical social worker, and also a physician. Many of the hospice philosophies that are still followed today, were created by Cicely Saunders.  In this Five for Frid...

June 15-22 is National Nursing Assistants Week, and we at The Heart of Hospice want to honor and recognize those who are at the heart of caring for the hospice patient. Nursing Assistants, or Certified Nurse Assistants (CNA) are the ones that provide the most hands-on care for the patient.  A social worker once commented that if the social worker, or chaplain, or nurse didn't show up, no one would...

5 months of the year are behind us, and June has just begun. It's time for a Self Care Check In. How are you doing with your self care? In February, The Heart of Hospice spent the entire month talking about practicing healthy self care. In this episode, Helen & Jerry do a self care check in, pulling back the curtains and letting you see how they're doing with self care--the best and worst.  Ou...

Hospice Connections

Monday, May 29 is Memorial Day in the United States. Memorial Day is to honor the brave soldiers who died to secure our freedom. It's a day to honor their sacrifices.  The Heart of Hospice would like to give recognition to those men and women who have served in our military. Statistics say that 1 out of 4 dying Americans is a veteran. We Honor Veterans is a program by the NHPCO that helps hospice...

Hope in Hospice

Helen & Jerry give honor to all of the amazing nurses who work in hospice during National Nurses Week in the U.S.  Most hospice nurses will tell you that hospice is their calling. It’s where they find meaning and purpose. The field of nursing has many specialties, hospice being one of them. In this episode, Helen & Jerry share a few ways that hospice nurses fulfill a unique role. They prov...

In this Five for Friday episode, Helen & Jerry remind hospice professionals that we must always walk in the No Judgment Zone. That means we must respect the patient's right to choose where they live, how they live, who they live with, and the lifestyle they've chosen, among other things. It also means we must also respect their choice of where they want to die, and other advance care plans the...

This episode is the full length version of a shorter version that was broadcast on a recent Five for Friday, about the Do Not Resuscitate advance directive.  Helen & Jerry talk more extensively about the DNR for hospice patients in this episode. Do Not Resuscitate forms communicate a person’s wish that CPR not be initiated if the heart or breathing stops. It’s a major part of end of life care...

5 Wishes is a living will document published by a nonprofit agency called Aging with Dignity. It’s a simple document that asks five questions about what a person wants during a life-threatening illness. The questions cover medical care, but they also cover mental and spiritual issues as well.  Here’s what the 5 questions cover: The person I want to make care decisions for me when I can’t The kind...

We have witnessed the pain and agony that families face when their loved one has not expressed, either verbally or in writing, what they wanted to happen should they no longer be able to communicate their wishes. Did they want to have a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order, or not? Who will be able to make their decisions for them when no one has a medical power of attorney? Would they want to die at ho...

This week Helen & Jerry consider the purpose of the Medical Power of Attorney (MPOA). The purpose of the MPOA is to designate someone to make your healthcare decisions for you in the event that you’re incapacitated, and unable to make those decisions yourself. For more information about the MPOA, visit NHDD.org or CaringInfo.org . Both of these websites have information regarding how to select...

In this Five for Friday we discuss the purpose of a DNR. DNR means Do Not Resuscitate.  Do Not Resuscitate forms communicate a person’s wish that CPR not be initiated if the heart or breathing stops. It’s a major part of end of life care for many patients and their families, as well as the hospice professionals providing their care. Other states and countries have forms for use as DNR instructions...

April is Volunteer Appreciation Month, and we're excited to feature one of our hospice colleagues, Lillie Boudreaux, who works as a volunteer coordinator. As a volunteer coordinator Lillie recruits, trains, and organizes the wonderful people who volunteer in hospice.  In this interview, Lillie tells us how she finds people to volunteer, the amount of hours that is required to train a volunteer, an...

Hospice professionals know the 5 things people say when they discover you work in hospice.  1. "I could never work in hospice." 2. "That must take a very special person." 3. "It must be really depressing work." 4. The "pity" look. 5. "Let me tell you my hospice story." Hospice has a way of connecting people through a shared experience. Those who have had a family member on hospice feel free to tel...

In this week's episode of Five for Friday, Helen & Jerry share some important information for families who are considering hospice for their loved one. When considering hospice it's important to remember that you (patient or caregiver or family) have a choice in which hospice agency will provide the care for you or your loved one.  But when is the best time to call hospice? And how do you go a...

All hospices provide the same care, right? Not necessarily. When you or your loved one are in need of hospice services, it's good to know how to find a hospice agency that will provide the kind of care that meets your expectations.  In this episode of Five for Friday, Helen & Jerry share the important questions that need to be asked if you're shopping for a hospice. Not all hospice agencies pr...

In this Five for Friday, Helen and Jerry discuss the hospice terms that can be very confusing to patients and caregivers. Hospice professionals use these terms on a daily basis, and we often forget that patients/caregivers may not understand what they mean.  To help relieve some of the confusion, we put together this short episode to define and explain some of the terms most often used in hospice....

How are your self care habits? If you're like us, there's good days and there's bad days. In this episode we share our highs and lows, the best and the worst of our self care journey.  What we've learned on this self care journey is that one of the most important habits of self care is giving yourself grace. You're not going to be perfect every day. There will be days when it's hard to practice he...

All during this month we’ve been focused on self care - for mind, body, and spirit. Self care is the way hospice caregivers - personal and professional - take care of themselves, so they can take care of others.  While we have learned a lot about self care during our time working in hospice (about 14 years combined), we still have lots to learn about taking good care of ourselves. It’s a lifelong...

We are probably guilty of neglecting self care for our spirits more than anything else. And yet, neglect of this area can lead to greater problems in the other two areas. All three areas are intertwined and can’t be separated from one another. Therefore, to neglect the care of our spirits can negatively impact us as caregivers.  Here are our top 5 ideas for Self Care of the Spirit. Meditate. Do a...

This is Self Care February, and this week's episode will focus on self care for the body.  As caregivers we often push ourselves beyond healthy limits in the care of our patients. But like a cell phone battery, eventually there's no energy left, and we need to take some time to "recharge our battery."  In this episode Helen & Jerry share their top 5 ideas for practicing self care for the body....

We're calling it self care February! Each Five for Friday episode in February will focus on a specific area of self care, to promote a balanced self care routine for professionals and private caregivers.  This week's episode is focusing on self care for the mind. Helen & Jerry share their 5 favorite ideas to encourage you to find your own best self care methods. If these 5 ideas aren't enough,...