By Lisa Carver, RN, Administrator, Gentiva Hospice Spartanburg, SCTheyve called in hospice.These words are usually accompanied by a downturned mouth, a dipping of the head.They evoke a sense of finality, a loss of hope.They indicate that a person, a family, a medical team has given up, and that its time to start the grieving process.What if it could be different?What if, through words and actions, we could change the perception of the word hospice?What if hospice could mean that the patient, the family, and the medical team have chosen to decide how they would prefer their dying process to look?What if they have chosen to improve the quality of life they have remaining?Maybe they have chosen to stop a medication or procedure that has side effects making them miserable.
Maybe they have realized that hospice can help manage pain, nausea, or the restlessness that plagues them daily.Maybe they have decided that they want to attend their grandsons baseball games, have family dinners without leaving early, or celebrate the moments remaining with family and friends while feeling the best they can.Maybe they have decided to allow those same family and friends to have positive memories and meaningful interactions before they pass.Maybe they have realized that death is a side effect of life, and have taken control of those last weeks or months.
They have chosen not to spend the remaining time in hospitals and doctors offices, but instead travel and experience as much as possibleto share those experiences with the people they love.Maybe they decided to stop the wheel of treatment and said to themselves, I want to finish this life on my terms.I want to listen to what my body and soul are telling me, and this is enough.Maybe we start to realize that it may be a blessing, knowing that your time is limited.That you can have a team in your home that can manage health issues that pop up, treat infections and wounds, provide equipment and supplies to best care for your needs.
A team that allows you access to spiritual care, a social worker to navigate all of the inevitable end-of-life planning, an aide to help you bathe and groom when you just arent feeling up to snuff.Nurses, nurse practitioners, and doctors that are not only highly trained in your specific needs, but have the compassion, the concern for you and your loved ones, and the knowledge to provide education on those questions that may not have previously seemed important.Maybe we realize they have chosen a different type of hopenot a hope for a cure, but a hope for peace.Maybe we realize that hospice is a gift.A gift to the client, but also a gift to those who love and support them.
A gift to make wishes known, so that family members arent left with difficult decisions or feeling ill-equipped to make them.A gift of time well spent.Maybe, to change the perception surrounding hospice, we start with one person.One family.
One decision.Maybe its a matter of perspective.What if?
Publisher: Life Plan Community ( Read More )
