Silverado Hospice LIFE Lines: Care You Can Trust

Silverado Hospice LIFE lines are real stories from Silverado Hospice volunteers, nurses and chaplains. Written by Nancy Hanahan, Director of Volunteer Services for Silverado Hospice – Orange County

“Care You Can Trust” — Silverado Hospice Tagline

It is said that individuals who do end-of-life care possess a unique, imaginary body organ called the “hospice heart.” People are thought to be called to this specialty because it takes unique individuals to do it.

Hospice nurses are some of those special people with real hospice hearts. Day in and day out, they care for the dying with their clinical expertise and compassionate natures. Hospice RN case managers constantly assess patient and family needs and then coordinate the whole team to ensure comprehensive, exemplary care. They bring their best selves to each patient they see, often leaving one rapidly declining patient to visit another who has just come on hospice service and needs to have a routine visit.

Emotions and energies can run high for a hospice nurse. A family member overwhelmed with caretaking responsibilities is important. A patient who is in pain is of great concern. A ringing phone needs to be answered. Someone who is actively dying becomes a priority. A good hospice nurse must be able to triage her visits and manage her time.

Christina is an RN case manager with Silverado Hospice who has a real hospice heart. She has learned how to prioritize visits in order to provide efficient and effective care. She has learned that, although one patient is not more important than another, someone may be in a more acute situation. A patient or family member may really need her in any given moment and she has to make a decision about where she will put her time and efforts.

Christina told me something recently. She talked about a patient who was dying and although the patient was comfortable and at peace, the family needed her to stay with them. She had a busy day planned and had to make a choice whether to leave the patient’s home or move on to other visits. Christina said she thought about Silverado Hospice’s new tagline “Care You Can Trust”. The patient’s family trusted her to be there with them and to hold their loved one’s hand as she died. Christina knew that trust is a profound thing. It’s something that is earned and it’s something that people value. So she stayed. She stayed until the patient peacefully passed away.

Christina told me she knows she made the right decision concerning the patient and family. She provided them with care they could trust.

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