Hospice workers - the living angels in our midst
By Jayne Warren - 19/11/2007
Often quiet, assuming, but utterly professional, hospice workers are our midwives from this life into whatever lies beyond. They hold our hands, listen to our held-in memories, our fears and regrets, and offer warm love and support to both patients and families in a time of pain and confusion.
At last, someone has written a book encapsulating the work of hospices - as seen through the eyes of the people who work in them. Written by Ann Richardson, an Independent writer and researcher, 'Life In A Hospice' provides vivid, real-life accounts of hospice life from managers, doctors, nurses, carers and support staff. Their individual voices, perspectives and stories invite readers into the day-to-day complexities of hospice life.
With growing public and professional attention to end of life care and the way dying patients and their families are treated, the thought-provoking narratives provide vital insights into the type of work undertaken in a hospice setting. They explore the challenges for - and personal motivations of - staff, and the many ways hospices strive to meet the needs of patients and their families with sensitivity and respect.
Writes Ann Richardson: "Hospices provide palliative care - which tells you to think about the person, rather than the disease. It is important to address people’s real problems, and if you can make it possible to die without worrying, that is so much better than dying with a lot of pain. My book comprises passages from interviews with people who work daily with the dying - primarily nurses, but also others such as doctors, managers and even a very reflective chef!
"The narrative is the nature of their work with patients and families, the problems they experience, the ways they cope with these difficulties - and why they love this work. And the book is suffused with their enormous commitment to providing the best of care at a time seen to be of the utmost importance to both dying people and families. There are numerous examples of their efforts to enable patients' last days to be meaningful - from addressing small tasks of lasting importance (such as writing a key letter to a grandchild), or larger issues of the nature of their death (in one case, enabling a man to die outside under a tree)."
The final chapter explores some reflections on the impact of hospice
work on their own lives, for instance on their own sense of mortality
and their recognition of the need to pay attention to fundamental,
rather than trivial, concerns.
'Life in a Hospice' is enlightening reading for all healthcare professionals in palliative care, including volunteer, administrative and support staff. It is also highly recommended for nurses and others in caring roles considering a move into hospice work. Therapists, counsellors and religious leaders will discover poignant and encouraging insights, and people with a family member approaching the end of life will find the book reassuring and informative.
Fred Nenner, Director of Social Work, Lutheran Medical Center Brooklyn,
New York, said of the book: "I am moved by the candor of staff,
specifically when they talk about the difficulties experienced and what
they do to cope. It makes the mission and work real. There is nothing
academic in the understanding we have after reading about what people
do, why they do it and what it means to patients and their families. We
are in the experience. Very helpful for the people who actually do the
work. It makes legitimate what we think and feel but are reluctant to
admit to - let alone speak about."
Highly recommended.
'Life in a Hospice' is available at a special, exclusive price for
Mature Times' readers - £16.95 instead of £19.95 - a saving of £3. To
order, call the Radcliffe Publishing Orders Department on 01235 528820
and quote “Mature Times Offer” or purchase via the website by following the link at the bottom of this page - putting “MatureTimes” in the discount code
box at the checkout.
For more information about the book, click on the second link.