The medical director will visit within five days of admission to conduct a thorough physical and mental evaluation of the patient. Besides visiting once monthly thereafter, the physician is then on-call for the nurses and health aides throughout the duration of the patient's care.
A social worker will visit the patient within five days of admittance to conduct an assessment of the social and mental needs and goals of the patient. Besides visiting once a month thereafter, the social worker is available for "as needed" appointments if the patient or family desires an additional visit.
Hospice focuses on caring for the patient, not curing the patient. This means we do not further any interventional treatments for the eradication of any terminal disease. We focus on soothing the symptoms associated with the terminal illness, like shortness of breath, edema (swelling), and pain.
Along with care of the terminal diagnosis, we care for ailments common to hospice patients, like malnutrition, pressure ulcers (also known as bed sores), urinary tract infections (or UTIs), constipation, and others.
One of our health aides will visit once to thrice weekly if desired. The health aide is tasked with the hygiene care of the patient. The most common tasks for the health aide include bathing and dressing the patient. These tasks are very helpful to the patient and family as the health aide is specially trained to move and clean the patient with high levels of decorum and dignity.
The Social Workers
The Skilled Nurses
Comprehensive Hospice Care
Upon admittance, our team conducts assessments of the patient's physical, mental, and spiritual needs and goals along with a safety assessment of the patient's environment. The nurse will then discuss the needs and goals with the patient, family, the medical director, and the rest of the patient care team, and will compile a Plan of Care or POC. This itemizes specific areas of the patient's care that requires attention.
A bereavement counselor will visit the patient within five days of admittance to conduct an assessment of the patient's family and loved ones. They will discuss with the loved ones about the emotional and mental effects of dying and death with the patient and the family, and give support and advice about coping with loss and grief.
Besides visiting once a month thereafter, the bereavement counselor is available for "as needed" appointments if the patient or family desires a visit. Following the patient's death, the bereavement counselor will contact the patient and family for 13 months thereafter, providing emotional support in the form of discussion and literature.
A chaplain will visit the patient within five days of admittance to conduct an assessment of the social and emotional needs to the patient. Besides visiting once a month thereafter, the spiritual counselor is available for "as needed" appointments if the patient or family desires an additional visit.
The Spiritual Counselors
One of our skilled nurses will visit once to thrice weekly to assess the patient's condition and response to any medications or treatments. These visits last from 30 minutes to an hour or more at a time, and will involve taking vital signs (blood pressure, pulse, respirations, oxygen saturation, and temperature), checking the patient's skin for any injury or sores, and conducting examination of any issues. They will also reconcile any medications, supplies, nutritional supplements, or medical equipment with the needs of the patient.