Posts Tagged ‘houston hospice

An Empty Seat at the Table During Father’s Day – Houston Hospice’s Guide to Grief Support on Special Occasions

Father’s Day is a time for families to celebrate traditions and make memories, but for those mourning the loss of their patriarch or loved one, Father’s Day can be difficult.

Volunteer Sylvia Valverde June 2022

Volunteer Sylvia Valverde pictured in Houston Hospice’s Garden in the Texas Medical Center.

For Sylvia Valverde, a retired Houston Independent School District administrator and Houston Hospice volunteer (pictured right), honoring her father’s legacy has helped her through her grief journey.
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Houston Hospice Spirit Award Honors The Garden Club of Houston

Houston Hospice is pleased to announce this year’s Spirit Award Dinner will be honoring The Garden Club of Houston. The 22nd annual celebration will be a hybrid event, live-streaming and in-person, and is scheduled for Wednesday, October 28, 2020 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the River Oaks Country Club, 1600 River Oaks Blvd., Houston, Texas.

 

Author Elin Hilderbrand to host Houston Hospice Spirit Award Dinner

Author Elin Hilderbrand

Historically, The Laura Lee Blanton Community Spirit Award recognizes the grace and generosity of a community leader or organization that has made a positive impact on the Greater Houston Area. Established in 1924, this year’s honoree, The Garden Club of Houston, has supported a plethora of Houston area green spaces, including The Garden at Houston Hospice, in addition to providing educational programs that promote the love of horticulture in children, teens, and adults.


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Safety and compassion through COVID-19

Houston Hospice works with families to ensure patients’ safety, comfort during COVID-19

 

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Houston Hospice has taken extra precautions to guard patients, families, loved ones, and staff members from the spread of the disease caused by the Coronavirus. Their safety remains our top priority as we continue to advocate for uncompromising, compassionate end-of-life care. Increasing safety and compassion through COVID-19 is our goal.

Cynthia Nordt, VP Development, Houston Hospice

Cynthia Nordt

Safety is Paramount
Earlier this year, as confirmed cases started to rise in the Greater Houston Area, the Houston Hospice leadership team, with the support of board members, made difficult, but necessary decisions to safeguard vulnerable patients from the spread of the virus. To maintain safe and secure on-site operations, visitors are allowed at a maximum of two per patient. In addition, every person entering the building is required to have their temperatures checked, daily, and wearing safety masks is a must. To maintain 6-feet of social distancing guidelines, communal areas are temporarily closed.

Offsite, nurses and support staff are taking extra precautions to keep patients safe. For those patients who still wish to receive home care, our staff maintain sanitized proper PPE, sort medical supplies to avoid cross contamination, wash hands before and after visits and use hand sanitizer often, throughout the day. Volunteer opportunities have been paused until it is safe for all involved.

Zoom Meetings and Remote Staff 
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Is Profit Seeking Trumping Care? Nonprofit vs. For Profit Hospice

The truth is, most people don’t think about hospice at all until it becomes a necessity. The concept of hospice is relatively new in the United States. However, as the number of hospice providers grows, with varying degrees of quality, it’s important to be informed. Hospice places its emphasis on quality of life with care that’s tailored to the unique needs of each individual and their support network. When curative treatments cease to help, the relief of palliative care can bring a new form of hope for terminally ill patients and their families, as hospice services help them make the most of their time together. In 2007, research published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management reported that hospice patients lived an average 29 days longer than similar patients who did not have hospice care.

When it came to the United States from England in the 1970s, the hospice movement began as a grass-roots campaign to address the unmet needs of patients with terminal illnesses. The benefits of this care were quickly recognized by the medical establishment. In a 1978 report, a U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare task force noted both the altruistic and practical advantages of government support for hospice care: “The hospice movement as a concept for the care of the terminally ill and their families is a viable concept and one which holds out a means of providing more humane care for Americans dying of terminal illness while possibly reducing costs. As such, it is the proper subject of federal support.” In 1982, Congress included a provision to create a Medicare hospice benefit in the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act.

With hospice services covered by Medicare, what started as a purely charitable movement became a probable source of revenue. As a result, the number of for-profit agencies entering into the business of hospice has grown exponentially, with

alarming results. An article published by the Washington Post on May 3, 2014 entitled “Terminal neglect: How some hospices treat dying patients” reported that the quality of care provided by 920x1240hospices varies widely. A Washington Post investigation analyzed Medicare billing records for over 2,500 hospices, obtained an internal Medicare tally of nursing care in patients near death and reviewed complaint records at hundreds of hospices. At many hospices, they discovered that little care was provided for patients most in need. The investigation ascribed this absence of care to skimping on nurses, and to the failure of these hospices to have access to a facility where continuous crisis care could be provided. The investigation found that about 18 percent of U.S. hospices did not provide a single day of crisis care.

The investigation noted that the absence of crisis care at those hospices stands in stark contrast to most others, where such care is common. Medicare payment rates and their unintended financial incentives may be responsible. Providing routine care such as semiweekly nursing visits can be very lucrative. However, symptom management that requires continuous nursing care or inpatient care can be financially draining and logistically problematic, especially for smaller agencies.

An area of great concern is the burgeoning growth of home health care businesses that offer hospice. “For-profit home care agencies are bleeding Medicare; they raise costs by $3.3 billion each year and lower the quality of care for frail seniors,” said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, professor of public health at CUNY’s Hunter College, lecturer at Harvard Medical School. “Letting for-profit companies into Medicare was a huge mistake that Congress needs to correct.”

William Cabin, assistant professor of social work at Temple University and lead author of a nationwide study published in the August 2014 issue of the journal Health Affairs said, “While our study is the first to show that profit-making has trumped patient care in Medicare’s home health program, that’s no surprise. A large body of research on hospitals, nursing homes, dialysis facilities, and HMOs has shown that for-profits deliver inferior care at inflated prices.”

Researchers believe that most hospices are providing quality care and many nurses in the field consider palliative medicine as much a calling as a job. When the hospice movement took root in the United States, hospice practitioners were typically part of religious groups, or were community-supported like the Texas Medical Center’s Houston Hospice. However, since for-profit businesses have come to dominate the industry, early planning and investigation of hospice care options is a necessity.

Karla Goolsby

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Houston Hospice Nurses: Life Matters And This Is What It’s All About

As I walk the halls of Houston Hospice’s inpatient unit, whispers can be heard coming from multiple patient rooms. Peering into one room, a nurse is seen comforting an elderly man wondering what life might be like when his wife of 54 years will no longer be at his side. Across the hall, a nurse listens as a teenage boy asks her what heaven might be like when he gets there; nervous that he won’t know anyone when he gets there. Continuing down the hall, I see into the room on the left, a nurse is teaching a man’s sister how to administer his medications in preparation for him to go home; something he has been longing for since the day he found out he was ill. In the room up ahead to the right a nurse works diligently at the bedside of her newly-admitted 31 year old patient to get the pain caused by her breast cancer managed as the patient’s parents stand watching with tears streaming down their faces. I continue walking the hall, and I feel an overwhelming sense of pride for my wonderful team of nurses.

Here at Houston Hospice, the inpatient unit nurses provide a full-spectrum of physical, emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual care with the goal of preventing suffering and relieving symptoms to support the best possible quality of care for our patients and their families. As we enter National Nurses Week 2014, I would like to recognize and sincerely thank each and every Houston Hospice inpatient unit nurse as they are leaders in providing uncompromising and compassionate end-of-life care to our patients and families.

“And what nursing has to do … is to put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon him.” – Florence Nightingale, Notes on Nursing: What it is and what it is not.

Thank you, nurses, for all you do,

Jessica Rousseaux
Inpatient Unit Patient Care Managerholding hands

 

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Houston Hospice: National Hospice Month

National Hospice Month is upon us. Every Monday through the month of November Houston Hospice will be highlighting employee experiences and delving into the human aspect of hospice care. The 2012 National Hospice and Palliative Care theme is Comfort·Love·Respect – something we see daily at Houston Hospice. Hospice care happens because of skilled and compassionate hospice and palliative care professionals. These include physicians, nurses, social workers, hospice aides, chaplains and volunteers. Below is a glimpse of employee insight into compassion driven end-of-life hospice care.

What have you gained from working at Houston Hospice?

 “Knowing that we are truly helping patients, and their families at the most crucial part of their lives,” Robynette Hall, RN, On-call Team.

“What I have gained most at Houston Hospice is compassion and patience,” Sonja Payne, Receptionist.  

“Fulfillment in being a healing presence,” Kathy Flinn, RN, PCM-IPU.

 

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The 2012 Butterfly Luncheon

Ron Hall

Houston Hospice will host its annual Butterfly Luncheon on Tuesday, April 10th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Hilton Houston Post Oak Hotel.  Ron Hall, co-author of the book, same kind of different As me, will be the special guest speaker. The Butterfly Luncheon is the primary fundraiser that recognizes Houston Hospice’s pediatrics program called The Butterfly Program. Profits raised from The Butterfly Luncheon benefit all operations of Houston Hospice.

I am very excited about our speaker Ron Hall. His capability to tell a story and paint a mental picture keeps the audience engaged and entertained. If attending our 2012 Butterfly Luncheon, I highly advise reading his book, same kind of different As me, that Ron co-wrote with friend Denver Moore. The story about how the two met is inspiring especially since they both came from two different worlds. The novel proves that when coping with death, we can all find common ground no matter what our backgrounds are.

The event will include lunch and a raffle that will feature our hand stitched quilt sewn by Houston Hospice volunteers. There will also be a booth with sterling silver butterfly jewelry for sale by JD Designs. Copies of same kind of different As me, will be available for purchase. Ron Hall will sign books at the event.

If you are interested in attending our 2012 Butterfly Luncheon, you can visit our website at www.houstonhospice.org or contact the Development Department at 713-677-7130. This is one of our major fundraisers for the year and is always a joy to be a part of.

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Celebrating Valentine’s Day as a Caretaker

Valentine’s Day is a holiday that people love to love or love to hate. Some people love the idea of having a whole day to celebrate their love for their friends, family, and that special someone. Other people believe Valentine’s Day is a made up holiday to generate card, chocolate and flower sales. Whatever your opinion is, as a caretaker acknowledging Valentine’s Day can benefit your loved one.

If you take away all of the commercialization of Valentine’s Day what is left? The answer is simple- love. Dedicating a whole day of love for the people in your life is a great way to realize how valuable they are. As a caretaker, you are already a laborer of love. Balancing work and family is stressful enough. You choose to become a primary caretaker because of your deep love for your family member or friend.

This Valentine’s Day, take some time to think about the love you have for the friend or family member you are taking care of. In the chaos of trying to create a successful balancing act, it’s easy to forget why you are a caretaker. Think about great memories shared between the two of you and talk about them with your sick loved one. You don’t have to buy flowers, chocolates, or cards to celebrate your love for each other.

Also, don’t forget to celebrate the love you have for yourself. Take a moment to think about your characteristics that make you unique and special. When you love yourself you can love others even more. Don’t let yourself forget your worth or that you are a strong, caring person. Give yourself a giant hug and compliment.

Even though Valentine’s Day can seem a little over the top and excessive, don’t forget the message of love. Let others in your life know that you love them even if it’s a simple phone call or letter. And celebrate the love you have for yourself.

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What Is Hospice Care?

Houston Hospice Staff

Houston Hospice Staff

When a patient with a severe illness decides that curative measures are no longer appropriate or effective, the option of hospice care is a compassionate, dignified and cost-effective end-of-life care option. When possible, the patient can receive treatment within his or her own home. The hospice team who visits the patient on a regular basis consists of a nurse, hospice aide, social worker, volunteer and chaplain. Staff physicians are consulted and are available when necessary.

 

The essence of Houston Hospice care is:

Following assessments in the areas of physical pain, emotional needs, spiritual issues, legal concerns and practical arrangements, the patient, family and physician approve a plan of care. Being involved in making the plan helps patients and families face the last stages of life more comfortably and confidently.

Patient care is provided by Houston Hospice in the home, in a nursing home or residential facility or in the Margaret Cullen Marshall Hospice Care Center which is located in the Texas Medical Center.

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When is Hospice an Appropriate Alternative?

Hospice care becomes an alternative when a patient has reached the last phases of a terminal illness and has been given a prognosis of six months or less.  The subject can be addressed at any time during the illness as physician and patient discuss treatment options.  When a patient chooses hospice, the decision to give up curative measures is made in favor of comfort care, focusing on pain management and symptom control, psychosocial support for both patient and family and ancillary services that lessen the burden of illness and care giving.

Please contact us or visit our web site  https://www.houstonhospice.org for more information.

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