November 20th, 2011 
judowolf 
I worked eight years for hospice, as a home social worker visiting dying patients and families in their homes. Interesting would not be a word to describe what I did, but life changing would fit the bill.
Hospice has a mission statement, organizational chart, department heads, a budget, and a board of directors. They receive funding from Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, and donations. Patient’s admission is based on the following criteria – a physician’s order stating the patient has six months or less to live, the patient no longer is seeking curative treatment. We worked in teams consisting of nurses, social workers, home health aides, homemakers, volunteers, and chaplain
Every morning we have a team meeting reviewing the night’s activities and assigning of new patients. We receive the necessary information including name, address, telephone numbers, medical records, much visit the patient within forty-eight hours. We schedule appointments, seeing five to six patients a day, with a goal of visiting seventeen per week.
This seems like any organization, but dealing with terminal patients sent me into a different world where the priorities consisted of patient care, pain control, and quality of life.
I worked with highly educated, dedicated, caring individuals, who would not stop working till the job is done because there is no such thing as tomorrow. This is the first chapter on a series and the next one will cover referrals and admission.
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