...Hospice Care Hannae Warren HCS/212 Kristie Racca October 24, 2011 Hospice is a term that is traced back to medieval times; it was a place where tired or sick travelers could find a place of shelter, rest, and care (“History of Hospice Care,” 2010). Since the medieval times hospice care has evolved into a contemporary program that offers patients facing terminal illnesses medical, spiritual, and psychological care. A physician named Dame Cicely Saunders first proposed the thought of specialized care for the terminally ill in 1963, and in 1967 she founded the first modern hospice in a residential suburb of London (“History of Hospice Care,” 2010). This was the beginning of modern day hospice care which provides patients the humane and compassionate care that is beneficial to people that are in their last phases of incurable diseases, so that they may live as much as possible and as comfortably before they pass away (“Hospice Care,” 2011). The Hospice viewpoint is that death is the final stage of life, they support life, and neither rush nor delay death (“Hospice Care, 2011). The ultimate goal of any hospice is to assist patients live their last days on earth as a alert and as pain-free as possible (“Hospice Care,” 2011). Hospice care is helpful when...
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...Hospice and Attitudes toward Death Unitie Mance Soc 304: Social Gerontology Kristin Bachman February 27, 2012 A dying man needs to die, as a sleepy man needs to sleep, and there comes a time when it is wrong, as well as useless, to resist. Stewart Alsop Death, dying and bereavement finds a way of impacting everyday living. Images of real or fictional death are often while watching television or movies. Death can impact people on a personal and a cultural level. This essay will entail how cultural attitudes toward dying, death, and bereavement have changed. While examining hospice, the care obtained, and its role in this shift. Cultural attitudes toward dying, death, and bereavement have changed. There are enormous variations across societies and over time in attitudes toward death. Some societies engage in death avoidance while others celebrate the communion between the living and the dead. In the United States there has been an immense change in the process of dying from past centuries to the present. “This change is partly due to a shift in the average age of death and the association of dying with old age” (Aubrey, 2007). It is also caused by a change in the causes of death. At one time most people died from critical illnesses that struck quickly. Now people are more likely to die from a chronic illness that leads to a slow death. The setting for death has also changed. Most deaths in the past occurred in the home. Now death typically takes place in a medical setting...
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...Hospice Care The hospice care movement was born out of the concern for doing something for terminally ill and dying patients. Once medical care services for our terminally ill patients were no longer of benefit and our physicians could do no more, we had to turn to another source of care. One of the main objectives of the medical staff is to prolong life at all costs. When the medical staff no longer has the upper hand or mastery over disease and death, that’s when alternative care, such as hospice care can be provided. The hospice practice as it is today and as it was in the past focused on the control of pain for the terminally ill. Hospice care not only manages pain control but it also focuses on the physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of the patient and their families. Hospice care focuses on reducing high hospital cost for the terminally ill too. Once the hospice care movement was accepted into our society, society was ready to talk about death and dying and caring for terminally ill patients. Our society was ready to support the hospice care movement in whatever way thy could. Committees were formed to discuss how to treat the terminally ill. This committee wanted to get involved. The community got involved as well as some of the other health care systems. Some of the health care systems wanted to develop hospice care at their facilities. Helping our terminally ill patients through the hospice care movement began to spread. Hope...
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...Since the beginning of humanity, death has been a constant that every human being has faced and feared time and time again in war and in peace, young and old, man and woman. In all of that time the easing of passing has been a difficult job that fell on caretakers, physicians and more specifically hospice doctors, nurses, social workers and counselors. All of whom care for both the patients who must bear the knowledge that they are dying for as much as six months ahead of time and for their families and loved ones who are present throughout the whole process. Unfortunately, this branch of medicine, palliative medicine, is relatively new. Thus it is critical now more than ever that more funding and research are dedicated to its advancement and upkeep. The need for hospice care throughout...
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...Fall, 2011 Articles 1. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Support/end-of-life-care 2. http://www.loisgreenlearningcommunity.org/ < Compare and Contrast: The National Cancer Institute’s End of Life Care Questions and Answers on their website are written more the for caregiver or patient and describe what end of life care refers to. It’s formally written and describes each step or phase of care from initial diagnoses of end of life approaching or withdrawal of life saving measures such as chemotherapy to knowing when the patient has passed. It describes ways to take care of a patient at the end of life and when to call for professional help. It’s mainly geared toward the caregiver and really addresses all issues in providing care no matter how minor. The priority here is the well being and education of the non-professional care taker and the patient. The Lois Green Learning Community is an online resource for health professionals and a community to share experiences and also take care of yourself by doing so. It’s a place to blog or unwind about an experience, there are many resources listed for certification for palliative care and how to treat patients. It’s written with a very open and warm way and it’s a safe place to share your experiences, not formal and official like the NCI website. Communities like this are very important for health professionals to have a place to talk openly about experience which have a huge impact personally and learn from the experiences...
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...Children in Hospice Katrina Williams RES/110 April 26, 2012 Professor James Lazos Children in Hospice Research suggests that every year there are between 100,000 to 150,000 children born in the United States with a genetic disorder or defect. This represents approximately 20% of infant deaths each year. However, many of these children live to age well beyond the expectation, and some are enrolled in hospice. According to Armstrong-Daily and Zarbock (2001), “The concept of hospice today is applied to patients who are traveling through the final stages of their lives-in effect seeking shelter and comfort.” Hence, the main focus of this program is to prepare families for the death of a loved one. Although accepting these services is optional, families suddenly faced with the harsh reality that adulthood or even adolescence is not in their child’s future are in need of support services that offer much more than the comfort of a shoulder to cry on. There is an urgent need for organizations that strive to assist parents in helping the child to reach his or her full potential while encouraging loved ones to celebrate and cherish the time spent without the constant reminder that death is near. Caring for a child with a disability can be challenging. Immediately upon the child’s initial discharge from the hospital, life changes drastically. Parents are instantly bombarded with phone call from social workers, medical supply companies, and nursing staff for updates about...
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...Hospice care The term was from the medieval times when it referred to a place of shelter and rest for weary or ill travelers on a long journey. The name was first applied to specialized care for dying patients by physician Dame Cicely Saunders, who began her work with the terminally ill in 1948 and eventually went on to create the first modern hospice—St. Christopher’s Hospice—in a residential suburb of London. Sanders idea of specialized care for the dying to the United States during a 1963 visit with Yale University brought on the thought of helping the ones that couldn’t help them self and more and day were limited. To help them go in peace. It been an ongoing thing since the 1963 and still used to day Hospice is a type of care and a philosophy of care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill or seriously ill patient's symptoms. These symptoms can be physical, emotional, or psychosocial in nature. Hospice care focuses on bringing comfort, self-respect, and tranquility to people in the final years of life. Patients’ symptoms and pain are controlled, goals of care are discussed and emotional needs are supported. Hospice believes that the end of life is not a medical experience, it is a human experience that benefits from expert medical and holistic support that hospice offers. The concept of hospice has been evolving since the 11th century. Then, and for centuries thereafter, hospices were places of hospitality for the sick, wounded, or dying, as well as those...
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...threat due to death. Groups and families gathered together for an individual by providing assisted care if they were wounded or ill. One person was given the title role to become the administer of medicine or the healer of all sick through spirituality (Amitabha Hospice Service Offering Kindness & Clarity, 2000). Death rates for mother and children's were tremendously high, fewer people lived over the age of 40, and most of every resource was devoted to survival. Christianity began to spread in Europe and churches or monasteries which lead to the intake of sick and the disabled. Women who were well off or lost their husbands volunteered to work in the monasteries as care takers. During Medieval times during crusades, travelers discovered places of refuge with the nunneries as well as the monasteries. During the development of medicine and hospitals, the ill patients found treatment at these facilities but as diseases formed and the fear of outbreaks developed family members preferred for the care to take place in the home. The community would then prepare food and provide clothing for the individuals families who were taking care of them. The aftermath of WWII helped healthcare services provide better medicine for the ill which saved a lot of lives. The name hospice originated from the care of the terminally ill patients by Mme Jeanne Garnier and founded The Dames de Calaire in Lyon, France during 1842. Hospice care is an important part of health care usually according...
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...Hospice Care How much do people know about hospice care and what is involved in it? We research just about every big decision that affects our lives right now. For example we may research what career is best for us and our family, what kind of car best fits our financial needs, what kind of mortgage can we afford over a long period, and more important how is the neighborhood. Research is even conducted on something as small as what is the latest and greatest phone on the market. We spend hours or some times days researching these decisions, but how much time do we spend looking into the last days of our lives? If the average American is like me, they have not done any research about hospice care. My knowledge of hospice care was very limited by personal experience with both of my grandparents. Several years ago both of my grandparents were suffering from terminal illnesses and were placed in a hospice in Los Angeles with only a few months to live. I recall going to visit both of them and remember how poor the facility was. Just like with almost anything involving medical care, you get what you pay for. Neither one of my grandparents were financially at the top of the health care ladder and were both on Medicare like most Americans in their demographic. Hospice care was first established in the United States in 1970 and has become a growing industry since. (Hospice care in the United States, 2011) By 1995, hospices were a $2.8 billion industry with $1...
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...Three major categories of institutional medical care * Hospital are devoted mainly to acute intensive care of a limited duration. * Nursing homes provide long-term residential care for people who are chronically ill and those whose illness does not require acute, intensive care. * Hospice care is distinguished by its orientation toward the needs of dying patients and their families Rationing-refers to the allocation of scarce resources among competing individuals. In health care it is defined as any system that limits the amount of health care a person can receive. Paternalism- the assumption of parent like authority by medical practitioners, is seen as infringing on a patient’s autonomy or freedom to make medical decisions. Covenantal relationship- which implies a mutuality of interest between provider and patients. Eight principles that are important when delivering bad news 1. Keep it simple 2. Ask yourself, “What does this diagnosis mean to the patient?” 3. Meet on “cool ground” first. Get to know a patient prior to presenting the news. 4. Wait for questions. 5. Do not argue with denial. 6. Ask questions yourself. 7. Do not destroy all hope. 8. Do not say anything that is untrue. Strategies that either curtail or encourage conversation when speaking of death by a caregiver * Reassurance * Denial * Changing the subject * Fatalism * Discussion “Whole person care”- caring for seriously ill and dying patients...
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...Risk and Quality Management Assessment: Hospice Care HCS/451 Hospice Care The only two things that are guaranteed in life are birth and death. It seems that every time I tell my husband that his drinking habits are going to be the death of him one day. He always responds by saying “We’ve all got to day someday in one way or another, so why not enjoy life while you have it”. But in some cases the choices that we make will often determine whether we live to see the age of 90 verses just the age of 40 or 50. Nevertheless, whether it is death by a life full of bad choice, by accident, or by the luxury of old age. My husband is absolutely correct in saying we all have to die one day and because of that fact hospice care is available. This will be an in depth description of the hospice organization as a whole. As well as the demographics of whom they serve and the types of resources and services the organization has to offer its clientele. This executive summary will also including a summary of the risk management and quality management operatives that are associated with hospice organizations as a whole. Hospice Description The hospice program was pioneered in England back in the early 1970’s. It was a program established to assist patients and their families with end-of-life care. A hospice care team is comprised of nursing assistants, licensed vocational nurses, registered nurses, social workers, pastoral counselors, and many other health professionals. All of whom are under...
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...Hospice Care in the United States Catherine Harmer HCS.212 Feb.23, 2013 Prof. Mark Miller Hospice Care in the United States Hospice care is one of the best services the health care industry has to offer, and is available to all walks of life. When the patient has reached end of life, hospice provides support to the loved ones as well. “Hospice focuses on caring, not curing and, in most cases; care is provided in the patient’s home. Hospice care also is provided in freestanding hospice centers, hospitals, and nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Hospice services are available to patients of any age, religion, race, or illness. Hospice care is covered under Medicare, Medicaid, most private insurance plans, HMOs, and other managed care organizations” (NHPCO, 2011, par.2). Hospice care has evolved over many years and has a lot to offer: Patients are kept as comfortable as humanly possible. For loved ones, finding peace or comfort is likely more achievable when helping their loved ones let go, making the course of grieving and acceptance much less difficult. Caregivers, employees, and volunteers are faced day-to-day with the reality that life as we know it does expire; it is only fitting then, that greater patience and appreciation of self, family, and life in general become more characteristic of the providers than might be otherwise. This facet of health care, one might fear, would require tremendous resilience. On the other hand however, facilitating a...
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...The Hospice Movement What is a hospice? A hospice is a place where people who are fatally ill can find care during their illness and then return home. The word hospice comes from the Latin word “hospes”, a word referring both to guests and hosts. Cicely Saunders She was a British registered nurse who pursued a career in medical social work due to chronic health problems. She fell in love with a dying patient (David Tasma, a Polish refugee), this helped her solidify her ideas that terminally ill patients needed compassionate care to help address their fears and concerns as well as comfort for physical symptoms. One of her most important quotes is: "You matter because you are you, and you matter to the last moment of your life." After the refugee's death she volunteered at St Luke's Home for the Dying Poor where she was told that she could best influence the treatment of a terminally ill person as a physician. She then entered medical school and achieved her degree in 1957. Saunders believed that it is more important to focus on the patient rather than on the disease and introduced the term “total pain”, which included the psychological, spiritual and the physical aspects. She also believed that the needs of the patient's family should not be ignored. She spread her philosophy internationally in a series of tours of the United States that began in 1963. In 1967, Cicely Saunders and her colleagues opened St. Christopher’s Hospice, the world’s first...
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...Hospice Creation of Hospice Hospice care is designed to give supportive care to people in the final phase of a terminal illness and focus on comfort and quality of life rather than cure. The goal is to enable patients to be comfortable and free of pain, so that they live each day as fully as possible. The term “hospice” ( from the same linguistic root as “hospitality”) can be traced back to medieval times when it referred to a place of shelter and rest for the weary or terminally ill on a long journey in 1948 (History of Hospice Care, 2012). The name of the physician was Dame Cicely Saunders who treated the terminally ill and eventually went on to create the first modern hospice, named St Christopher’s Hospice, in a residential suburb of London. (History of Hospice Care, 2012). Ms. Saunders introduced the idea of specialized care for the dying to the United States of America during a 1963 visit with Yale University. Her lecture, given to medical students, nurses, social workers, and chaplains, about the concept of holistic hospital care, included photos of terminally ill patients and their families, showing the dramatic differences before and after the symptom control care (History of Hospice Care, 2012). Ownership In 2010, there were over 5000 hospice programs nationwide (Facts and Figures: Hospice Care in America, 2012). The majority of these facilities are freestanding agencies constituting 58 percent of all hospice centers (Facts and Figures: Hospice Care in America...
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...Executive Summary When people think of Hospice, they think of someone who is dying within the next couple of days, but it isn’t what it seems. Hospice is not a place; it’s a philosophy of care that enhances life as it nears its end for the patients and their families and friends. (Odyssey Health Care, 2013). Some people may feel that it’s scary to have to see someone going through something that they cannot fix, but what people have to realize is that you are making a difference in their lives. Some of the patients don’t have any family, so for someone to just go and talk to them for less than 30 minutes can really make a difference. The patients that are in Hospice sometimes don’t even show symptoms and act completely normal. Most patients accept that they are going to pass, so they usually do whatever they can before that happens. As soon as the physician let’s the patients know that hospice care is appropriate, they call Odyssey Hospice nurses. Within three hours, 24 hours a day, seven days out of the week, the patient is admitted into the program. At the end of life, what often matters most to a person who is dying is simply taking the time to hold a hand, give support and just be there. We as Odyssey Hospice volunteers would like to improve the quality of life of all individuals who see Hospice as something different then what it actually is. Mission Statement To provide compassionate care to those we serve during the end of life’s journey through our commitment to...
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