An Rn’S Hospice Journey

By Marie Malone RN BSN

On my RN journey, I was encouraged and uplifted by the light evidenced in my various encounters with patients, families, and the support of my Hospice team members.

Even though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of death, I will fear no evil (Psalm 23:4).

Where there is shadow there is light!

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490843384

Marie Malone RN BSN

In An RN’s Hospice Journey, Marie Malone covers a variety of personal encounters with life at the end of life over twenty years. Families and situations vary, creating challenges along the way.

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Copyright © 2014 Marie Malone.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-4263-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-4338-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014911522

WestBow Press rev. date: 07/10/2014

Contents

Introduction

Preface – Hospice Stories

The Road Traveled

i.     Total Care

ii.    My First AIDS Patient

iii.   Native American Chant

iv.    One Snowy Night

v.     Hospice Spells Relief

vi.    The Elephant In The Room

vii.   Heroes Amongst Us

viii.  The United Nations Family

ix.     Pets and Such

The Passage

i.    The Pet Predictor

ii.   Good Death

iii.   Good Grief! Says Charlie Brown

iv.   Final Days

v.    Celebration of Life

vi.   Letting Go

vii.  The Clock Man

viii.  Icy Night

The Path

i.     A Ticket For One Last Christmas

ii.    Hospice Team Helps the Patient And Family

iii.   Sally and John

iv.   Unscheduled Clown Visit

v.    Scheduled Clown Visits

vi.   Being Alert

vii.  Physicians and Hospice

viii. Unfortunate Situations

ix.   Exhausted Wife of Hospice Patient

The Way

i.    The Bleeping Pager

ii.    Hospice Acrostic

iii.   Love Is The Greatest

iv.   Unexpected Cognition or Awareness

v.    An Amazing Teenager

vi.   Hospice Keys: Presence and Listening

vii.  A Good Listener

viii. The Sticky Note Queen

ix.   Words Can Do Wonders

Introduction

HOSPICE – a place of refuge for travelers on a journey as defined by Webster’s Dictionary.

In 1988 as an RN while being sidelined due to back surgery, I was approached to investigate starting a Hospice in rural Newaygo County. Previously having worked in an Intensive Care Unit, then at a small thirty bed general hospital with Medical/Surgical, Emergency, Obstetrics; also as an Instructor of LPN students; and as Clinical Instructor for Nurse Aides I knew nothing about Hospice.

Since I was pursuing a BSN in Nursing I was able to utilize the classes to seek out necessary information about Hospice. A Community Assessment Course gave me the guidelines to research demographics and the need for a Hospice in Newaygo County. A Nursing Management Course allowed me to do an organizational study of Hospice of Greater Grand Rapids (later to become Hospice of Western Michigan and then Hospice of Michigan.) In learning about the team aspect I was able to make rounds with the various team members, participate in team meetings, and study the organizational structure of a Hospice that had functioned since the early 1980’s in nearby Kent County.

The view of life at the end of life opened up to me. It emphasized why Hospice is so important and valued by individuals and their families. The care of the whole person (physical, emotional, spiritual, psycho-social) is the key. Dame Cecily Saunders who started the first Hospice in England in the 1960’s felt that You matter because you are you. Hospice is truly a refuge as we near the end of life’s journey here on earth.

In early 1989 with the support from Gerber Memorial Hospital (now Gerber Memorial Spectrum Hospital) a group of twenty volunteers were trained for Hospice. In June two PRN RN’s, one PRN Social Worker and two PRN Nurse Aides received Hospice training. Staff and office were shared at Gerber Memorial Hospital. In September, 1989, Hospice of Newaygo County received its first patient. Hospice had become available due to the backing of Gerber Memorial Hospital, the local community, and the support from Hospice of Greater Grand Rapids.

For over twenty years I served as a Hospice Staff RN, Clinical Coordinator, Manager, Supervisor, Director, Educator, Community Outreach, Volunteer Coordinator, On-call RN and Volunteer in Newaygo County and nearby communities. It has been a privilege to be a part of a dedicated team and serving in the care of individual patients and their families who allowed us into their homes.

The stories, poems, and paraphrase that follow reveal the variety of experiences from my own personal contacts with Hospice patients and families. Also included are stories related to me from various staff members and volunteers.

The names