A hospice nurse was recently asked, “How can you work in hospice it must be so sad!”
She answered, “I love providing highly-skilled, compassionate care, because I know I make a huge difference in the quality of a person’s life. Hospice isn’t about dying; rather its about living as fully as possible despite a life-limiting illness. I love that I can use my training as a nurse to bring comfort and dignity to my patients, and seeing the relief on their faces and on the faces of those who care for them. I love being a part of a professional hospice team that works together to offer individualized, holistic care to families when it is critically needed. I love that I can offer practical solutions to patients and families, at one of life’s most challenging moments.”
Hospice isnt a place. Its a type of care that focuses on living as fully as possible, up until the end of life. Hospice brings comfort, love, and respect to the patients and families for which they care. Hospice is considered to be the model for high-quality, compassionate care, at the end of life. Hospice care involves a team-oriented approach to care that includes: expert medical care, pain-and-symptom management, and emotional and spiritual support. All care is especially tailored to the patients needs and wishes.
Hospice of the Northwest offers the services and support that our community expects and deserves, when faced with a serious or life-limiting illness. The goal of this type of care is to treat the person instead of the disease, and focus on the family caregivers, not just the individual. The quality of life is emphasized, not its duration.
Hospice care provides expert pain management, symptom control, psychosocial support, and spiritual care to patients and their families when a cure is not possible. The nation’s hospices serve more than 1.5 million people every year and their family caregivers, too. Many people only consider hospice care in the final days of life, but hospice is ideally suited to care for patients and family caregivers for the final months of life.
Hospice of the Northwest provides individualized plans of care for each patient, carried out by a specially trained interdisciplinary care team. Hospice employees receive ongoing specific training, and are experts in their respective discipline.
How to pay for Hospice?
Most insurers cover hospice care: Medicare, Medicaid, and many private insurance policies. Hospice of the Northwest admits qualifying patients, regardless of their ability to pay. One of the other ways Hospice Services are funded is through the generous support of donors. The Hospice of the Northwest Foundation exists to provide support to Hospice of the Northwest, by inviting the community to help bridge the gap between what it costs to provide compassionate and dignified care, and what the agency is reimbursed for providing that care. Donations help fund critical needs, such as uncompensated care for patients not covered by insurance, and a patient emergency assistance fund. Donations also support important programs like complementary therapies, and bereavement services.
Who can use Hospice?
Hospice care is available to people of all ages, with any serious or life-limiting illness.
Hospice combines the highest level of quality medical care, with the emotional and spiritual support for patients and family caregivers. Hospice can make a profound difference and help maximize the quality of life for all those for whom they care.
To learn more, contact the Hospice of the Northwest at (360) 814-5550, or visit our website at www.hospicenw.org