Expert View Surprising Truths Within Hospice Care

LibraryAlzheimer's and the Practice of Law: Counseling Clients with Dementia and Their Families (ABA) (2013 Ed.)

EXPERT VIEW Surprising Truths Within Hospice Care

Carolyn Peterson is an RN who has worked as a nurse for 43 years. Seventeen years ago, she began to focus exclusively in the area of hospice care. She works for an organization that provides care for the dying and incurably ill.

Q: RNs have the capability of working in almost any area of medical care. What attracts you and keeps you working with hospice?

A: I think it's the humanity of the work. RNs enter a person's life at a time when the rest of the medical community seems to have abandoned them. When people get to the point in their illness where it can't be fixed, a lot of the medical community kind of give up on them. Many times when nurses first meet a patient or family, they might be the first one to have explained what's going on in terms of their disease and that, truthfully, there is no more treatment available except hospice. It takes quite a bit of finesse and compassion, and when a nurse has these conversations there are no do-overs.

Q: Would you explain to the lawyer readers of this book about the composition of a hospice team?

A: Medicare dictates who must be a part of the interdisciplinary hospice team. The top person is the medical director, who is an employee of the hospice and must be a doctor who is board certified in hospice and palliative care (relieving and preventing suffering). There must be a nurse case manager, a nondenominational chaplain, and a social worker.

Q: In a typical month...

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