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What’s next for hospice?

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The news of Washington’s attempt at health-care reform has been taken primarily negatively around here an by hospice in general. Apparently about $7 billion will be cut from hospice-directed spending and there will much more regulation as well.

It’s difficult to say how this will really affect hospice care. There will be lawsuits and hold-ups I’m sure, and I’d be willing to bet that how the law is implemented in the years to come will be quite different from the bill that passed. Still, it does make one wonder about who will survive such a big change.

Church

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One of the blessings of being a hospice chaplain is that I get to go to church.  Pastors and many other church workers rarely, I’ve found, “go to church” in the way in which we use it colloquially.  When I worked as an associate pastor in a large church, the loss of “going to church” was more painful and disturbing than I expected.  I accepted the call to ministry with joy and a sense that this was an honest and sincere answer to prayer.

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Craziness

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Craziness

One thing that you never expect from hospice work is the frantic pace of it.  The concerns of seeing new patients in a timely manner, responding to emergencies and distress calls, visiting ongoing patients regularly, and tending to families when loved ones die are a part of everyday life.   All of these can batter your emotions and sanity on a bad day, leaving you to feel as if the plates just aren’t going to spin anymore.  Couple these concerns with ongoing pressures to increase census, staff support, the filling out and filing of endless forms, not to mention the concerns of the home front and it’s no wonder that individuals in caring professions have high incidences of burnout. Continue reading →

Reflections on Matthew 11:28-30; Be Weak

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The following is taken from a funeral I performed on 3/18/10.  Please note that names have been changed.

“Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matt. 11:28-30

While I do have the occasion to perform funerals for our hospice patients from time to time, it’s not often that I get to include a eulogy.  I always have some sort of message where I try to speak of what I learned from this person, or provide some words of comfort.  But I usually don’t know the person whom I am speaking of well enough to provide an actual eulogy.  However I did know Norman more than I knew almost all of our patients because we had him on for over two years – he outlasted most of our other patients and several of our own staff.  But Norm was also different because he and I could talk and actually get to know each other.  That’s relatively uncommon in my line of work.  So I wanted to speak not only of what Norm taught me, but of him as a person and a friend. Continue reading →