Need care? We care.
Bereavement support is initiated with the start of hospice to gather pertinent information that will help provided adequate care to family and friends for at least one year after the patient’s death. Franciscan Hospice Care delivers this assistance with a team of individuals who make regular visits, calls and personalized mailings to help integrate the loss experienced by those who remain.
Franciscan Hospice Care also offers support for the patient’s spouse after the death of the patient. Led by a licensed clinical social worker, support groups assist widows and widowers in their process of grief. Sharing in a trusting environment with others who have recently lost their spouse through death can reassure the grieving spouse that she or he is not alone.
Hospice care is palliative care that focuses on serving and comforting patients and their families at the end of their lives or as the illness becomes terminal. Most hospice programs concentrate on comfort rather than cure. It is a medical specialty that provides for the whole individual through an interdisciplinary approach to the plan of care. It involves the person and their family at the center with the physician, nurse, social worker, pastoral care, home health aids and volunteers to create a team to meet the needs of the individual and the family. Physical, Occupational and Speech therapies might also be part of a hospice plan of care if the individual would benefit from these services. Most hospice patients can achieve a level of comfort that allows them and their families to concentrate on the emotional and practical issues of dying. Franciscan hospice care provides this type of care.
Each patient is an individual with specific, unique needs. Franciscan Hospice Care’s interdisciplinary team of caring professionals works with each patient and the family to develop a personal plan of care appropriate to the medical, social, emotional, physical and pastoral needs of the patient. The interdisciplinary team includes the medical director, hospice care director, nurses, social worker, pharmacist, pastoral care director and volunteer coordinator. The administrator of Franciscan Home Care and Hospice Care attends the weekly meetings. The team is concerned with each patient individually and continues to assess, evaluate and make changes in the plan of care as necessary. Every plan of care is guided by the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.
Franciscan Hospice Care nurses are professionals who hold to the highest standard of care for each patient. Beyond their training as general care nurses, they are experienced in the care of hospice patients and continue to update their knowledge in the field through education. Hospice nurses are alert to the special needs of each patient and treat each person with respect, recognizing each one’s sacred dignity and unique situation as he or she prepares for his or her final days. Hospice nurses observe changes in the patients’ symptoms and overall medical condition which might call for adjustments in medication or services. A hospice nurse is on call 24 hours a day to answer the needs of clients and when necessary will make visits at any hour.
Becoming a hospice volunteer is a rewarding opportunity to journey with someone in the latter portion of their life. Hospice volunteers receive 16 hours of training that enables them to be present to others in a very special way in order to support both the individual and their family through a difficult time. Hospice volunteers receive continuing education and support through monthly meetings. They provide a variety of services such as:
- Visits to private homes or skilled nursing facilities
- Prayer
- Reading
- Music playing
- Listen to stories
- Writing notes or memories
- Arts and crafts
- Quiet presence
- Clerical support in the office
If you are interested in making a difference in someone else’s life, consider becoming a hospice volunteer.
A licensed clinical social worker is available for assisting the patient, caregivers and family members to live as fully as possible during the patient’s preparation for end of life.
Palliative care is for people of any age and at any stage in an illness who are suffering from symptoms of a disease or disorder, and are seeking a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to their plan of care. Be sure to ask your current physician for a referral for a palliative care consult from Franciscan Home Care and Hospice Care.
- No time restrictions
- Most insurance companies cover Palliative Care
- It is most common to receive Palliative Care through your physician’s office, home care services, hospitals or nursing homes
- Since there are no time limits on when you can receive palliative care, it acts to fill the gap for patients who want and need comfort at any stage of any disease
Every effort is made by Franciscan Hospice Care to provide spiritual support to patients during their time of preparation for the ultimate reality of death. Whatever the patient’s religious affiliation might be, Franciscan Hospice Care is available to invite a recognized religious pastor of that persuasion to visit the patient and provide spiritual encouragement, prayer or a listening ear. Catholic patients frequently request the presence of a priest to provide the Sacrament of Anointing, the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
Call 203-238-1441 to speak with an Intake Nurse.
Our services are based in our belief in the dignity of the human person and the sacredness of human life.
