National Hospice Month Insight from Nora Heflin and Jodie Gonzalez

Nora Heflin and Jodie Gonzalez

 

For National Hospice Month, Houston Hospice employees shared insight into compassionate, end-of-life care. Featured for the week of November 5 are Jodie Gonzalez and Nora Heflin. Jodie is a social worker on the Blue Team, which is based out of the West Office and has been working with Houston Hospice for one year. Nora Heflin has been a Certified Patient Care Aide for the past four years and is working at the Texas Medical Center location.

 

(Jodie) What do you love most about working at Houston Hospice?
My co-workers! Everyone on my team gives 100% to every patient/family and truly believes in the work we do.

(J) What draws you to your position?
The ability to walk alongside families during the most difficult time in their lives.

(J) If you hadn’t become a social worker, what might you have done?
A champion flamenco dancer…of course!

(J) Who was the person who most influenced you, and how?
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross did amazing work with terminally ill patients and really opened the world’s eyes to the needs of dying patients and discussions of death/dying. As long as professionals understand that there are no “5 stages of grief,” her work is still inspirational to those of us trying to increase our culture’s comfort level with death.

(Nora) What has been a pleasant discovery for you in the hospice community?
I discovered that we all face pain in life; it’s what you do with it.

(N) What impact has hospice had on your life?
Hospice has had a great impact on my life, losing my sister to cancer in 2010. I trusted my loved one to the care of Houston Hospice.

(N) Who was the person who most influenced you, and how?
Dr. Trinh, She taught me even in the worst of times, there is always another way to look at the situation. Even under tremendous amount of stress she still can manage to find some good in every situation.

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