Hospice volunteer

[Kobethegoat24]

So I am volunteering at a hospice care tomorrow and wanted to know what to expect. If anyone has volunteered at hospice before and you dont mind sharing your experiences? Thank you

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[Dr. Scribe]

This is a FAQ. Use the search function

 

[mybluedog]

n=1
-I didn’t think I’d get emotional and told myself not to get too close and into pts stories. But you can’t help it.
-depending on how strict the staff/ rules are, you may be able to help flip a pt over or hand things to change bed sheets, etc. Be prepared for some smells you’ve never smelled before.
-usually they ask you to attend training, which should tell you how everything operates and what you should be doing every shift/ with every pt.
-what also helped me was watching YT vids of hospice staff talking about their job. I highly suggest a 14 mins ted talk by a palliative care physician. Just search “what really matters at the end of life ted talk” he talks about palliative care that informed and prepared me better for my job.
-don’t forget to focus on the pt’s family too
-sometimes even sitting in a room and not speaking makes a + impact on the pt
-always introduce yourself and your purpose before entering a room
-remember what your purpose being there is
-remember to take care of your own mental health. It sometimes does get mentally tiring.

 

[Dr. Scribe]

n=1
-I didn’t think I’d get emotional and told myself not to get too close and into pts stories. But you can’t help it.
-depending on how strict the staff/ rules are, you may be able to help flip a pt over or hand things to change bed sheets, etc. Be prepared for some smells you’ve never smelled before.
-usually they ask you to attend training, which should tell you how everything operates and what you should be doing every shift/ with every pt.
-what also helped me was watching YT vids of hospice staff talking about their job. I highly suggest a 14 mins ted talk by a palliative care physician. Just search “what really matters at the end of life ted talk” he talks about palliative care that informed and prepared me better for my job.
-don’t forget to focus on the pt’s family too
-sometimes even sitting in a room and not speaking makes a + impact on the pt
-always introduce yourself and your purpose before entering a room
-remember what your purpose being there is
-remember to take care of your own mental health. It sometimes does get mentally tiring.

I second everything written here.

Another key point to remember is that hospice patients usually want to tell their life stories before passing on, so don’t feel awkward if you end up not saying much and are more of a listener.

I went into the hospice thinking I would be able to practice bedside manner and learn what things to say to a patient. It turns out that being a good listener is more important than knowing just what to say.

 

[bioboy23]

A lot of the time (with dementia patients) you will feel like you aren’t doing any good and you’ll probably question why you keep going back. In reality, you’re likely helping them in at least some small way. This might only be me though lol.

 

[Knicks17]

If you never witnessed a convulsion just don't panic. It happened on the first day i was volunteering! But just be calm and my advice is don't get too attached with a patient often they will not be there the next time you go, you don't want to mess up your emotional integrity

 

[Sheiko]

It turns out that being a good listener is more important than knowing just what to say.

This guy gets it.

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

 

[boogiecousins94]

If you're working with hospice and AD or dementia patients just remember to be extremely patient because you will probably hear or do the same thing 4-5 times in an hour. Also, at least with my experience, they completely forget who I am when I show up each week so you have to learn to be very good at essentially reintroducing yourself and doing the same things each week etc.

And truth about being a good listener- I often listen to the same thing multiple times but I always have questions to let them keep talking and show interest

 

[Kobethegoat24]

Thanks everyone for your advice, it went great. I was very scared going into it but all your comments made me feel at ease so thank you

 

[Violagirl]

I just found this thread and thought it would be a great place to ask my question.

Today I started volunteering with a new hospice and met my patients today with the coordinator there. I have volunteered in hospice before but this is my first time working with patients in memory care. The first patient I met, who the family will want to take to the movie in the nursing home facility every Sunday, did not want to bothered at all. They requested at first that I take them out of their room so we went into the nearby dining hall near a window where the volunteer coordinator and I tried to get to know her more. They shortly after wanted to go back to their room. Once we got there, they requested that they wanted to go home and then wanted to go to bed and not be bothered. Eventually soon after, I went to let a nurse know and they just said that that was the patient's habitual behavior. I let the patient know that if they were okay with it, that I would be back the following weekend to visit which they didn't respond to.

My other patient was sleeping when we arrived and the volunteer coordinator briefly work them up to say hello and introduced me and I let them know I would be back next week.

I emailed my coordinator later after the visit with questions and suggestions on the best ways to interact with memory care patients but wanted to ask if anyone here has had significant experience with this? I left feeling like I wished I could have done more and interacted with them better.

 

[676188]

I just found this thread and thought it would be a great place to ask my question.

Today I started volunteering with a new hospice and met my patients today with the coordinator there. I have volunteered in hospice before but this is my first time working with patients in memory care. The first patient I met, who the family will want to take to the movie in the nursing home facility every Sunday, did not want to bothered at all. They requested at first that I take them out of their room so we went into the nearby dining hall near a window where the volunteer coordinator and I tried to get to know her more. They shortly after wanted to go back to their room. Once we got there, they requested that they wanted to go home and then wanted to go to bed and not be bothered. Eventually soon after, I went to let a nurse know and they just said that that was the patient's habitual behavior. I let the patient know that if they were okay with it, that I would be back the following weekend to visit which they didn't respond to.

My other patient was sleeping when we arrived and the volunteer coordinator briefly work them up to say hello and introduced me and I let them know I would be back next week.

I emailed my coordinator later after the visit with questions and suggestions on the best ways to interact with memory care patients but wanted to ask if anyone here has had significant experience with this? I left feeling like I wished I could have done more and interacted with them better.

This is very typical of a volunteer hospice visit. If you’ve scheduled yourself an hour or whatever to be at a facility, and your patient is asleep, go find the activities coordinator and ask if there’s something you can do. You might end up reading to patients or putting together puzzles in the Day room with patients that aren’t “yours”, but you’re still being useful and helping.