I started this blog back in 2017 while I was still working at a residential hospice, providing 24/7 skilled nursing for hospice patients and support to families. I managed to write just two posts back then and thought this blog would be a venue for my thoughts and rants on EOL. Well, life came along and distracted me completely! So here I am again wondering where this will lead. Living in the time of COVID has changed the dialog, and has made me aware of the continuing gaps in understanding the very human elements of end of life.

I am thinking it would be good to open this up to other hospice workers as a venue for writing, sharing ideas and also books worth reading. I want to develop this as a go-to forum for all things hospice. I realize that much of EOL occurs outside of hospice and I hope others will join in but let’s just start with hospice for the time being. In other countries, Palliative Care is a more prevalent term, but since I am within the USA and specifically the Midwest, hospice is still the predominant field for EOL care.

Today, I am working as a RN case manager for home care and hospice for a small rural hospital in Minnesota. I am finally working in my community and although the work load is endless, I really feel fulfilled with being able to manage the care of people in my community. Case management has been an interesting learning experience, especially for EOL care. In hospice in the home, so much of my work now is educating family and caregivers on how to prepare and manage EOL care. The patient is of course involved in some of the education, but often, they have their own wisdom and are the one setting the pace. The patient directs the timing completely as to when to introduce certain levels of care; not because they say so, but the skillful hospice RN reads the symptoms presenting and readjusts the plan of care.

Please join me as I contemplate and write around this topic. I look forward to reading your thoughts on EOL care.