The Glory Hospice & Palliative Care team works with the patient and his or her family to develop a personalized care plan. The hospice staff is specially trained to provide medical assistance and to deal with the loneliness and fears experienced by both the patient and his or her loved ones. Our hospice staff respect patient wishes and help foster communication amongst family members. Patients and families who choose hospice are the core of the hospice team and are at the center of all decision making.
The most recognized “team” in healthcare is probably the doctor and the nurse. We have all seen them working together to diagnose, treat, and cure. They each have their own specific job. The doctor is the intellectual diagnostician and the nurse is the compassionate caregiver that provides comfort. For hundreds of years this team has worked very well to provide patient care.
For the best in end of life care provided by Glory Hospice & Palliative Care, this team approach is taken to a whole new level. The Interdisciplinary Group or IDG is commonly used in the hospice environment. This team approach still includes a doctor, the medical director, and a nurse—often called the clinical manager.
However, beyond the doctor and nurse, several other individuals are involved in the IDG. Each member of this team has the focus of providing the best quality of life for the remaining days of that patient. Those other team members include licensed social workers, chaplains, volunteers, bereavement (or grief counselors), and sometimes even family members who all work together to understand that particular patient and their needs. These needs often include medical, social and spiritual.
Glory Hospice & Palliative Care services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Nurses and physicians actively participate in the evaluation of patients to determine hospice eligibility and consider pain and symptom control a priority. The Interdisciplinary Group (IDG) makes up the team of health care professionals to meet the medical, physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the patient.
- Medical Director -The director is a physician who is committed to the philosophy and goals of hospice care for the terminally ill.
- Nurses (RN & LPN) – Hospice nurses are highly skilled in effective pain management, which is a primary concern to patients and families. Family members are included in education about pain management, because they are the ones providing the daily care at home.
- Licensed Medical Social Worker - Medical social workers are trained to understand the emotional and social needs of patients and families and how best to help them in this end-of-life stage. Social workers link patients and families to community services.
- Hospice Aides -They provide hands-on care and perform intimate tasks like bathing, grooming and comfort.
- Chaplain – Chaplains will minister to the patient as preferred to meet spiritual concerns. Spirituality goes far beyond identifying religious affiliation and where someone worships. It involves the exploration of fears, values, and beliefs — especially those relating to what awaits after death.
- Volunteers -They are trained prior to working with patients, and their supervision continues after their formal training ends. These individuals give willing of themselves to enhance the quality of life for hospice patients and their families. Volunteers can read to the patient, keeping the patient company while the caregiver runs an errand, or simply socialize with the patient.
- The Bereavement Coordinator provides grief support to surviving loved ones, allowing their eventual return to routine life an easier transition. Bereavement support may effectively prevent existing relatives from experiencing grief-related illnesses in the first year after the death of a loved one.
This team approach is so important that the entire team meets every two weeks to talk about each patient which the team is caring for and supporting, and not only the patient, but their family as well. Each member of the team is given the opportunity for input so that the whole team can provide the care that best benefits the patient and their family. Nearing the end of life is sad and stressful, but knowing that there is an entire team there to support and add life to days when days can no longer be added to life is hopeful and comforting.
