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Will Hospice Staff Provide All of the Care My Loved One Needs?
Unfortunately, in most situations, hospice staff do not provide all or even most of the care patients need. Instead, family members or hired caregivers are responsible for the lion’s share […]
Unfortunately, in most situations, hospice staff do not provide all or even most of the care patients need. Instead, family members or hired caregivers are responsible for the lion’s share of physical care, even for patients who are very sick with many complex needs. Hospice provides the necessary equipment, such as a hospital bed, an oxygen concentrator and medicines for pain and anxiety. And a registered nurse visits the patient during the first 24 hours to perform an initial assessment and instruct the family on how to provide needed care. But beyond that, nurses typically act in an advisory role, giving advice and answering questions over the telephone. Nurse aides and volunteers may visit more regularly, but according to a recent report from Kaiser Health News, the average amount of time spent with the patient by hospice caregivers is about 30 minutes per day.
Most patients and their care partners are totally unprepared for this reality or the physical demands of caring for a dying loved one in the home. Although they may have some experience caring for their loved one’s basic medical needs, such as ensuring that they take medications on time, many people are overwhelmed with the more complex care required as their loved one becomes increasingly ill. They may, for example, need to do the following:
- Adjust pain medications, sometimes many times each day
- Lift and reposition the patient for comfort, toileting and skin care
- Change dressings and provide wound care
- Change diapers
- Give medicines and fluids through a feeding tube
- Administer oxygen
For family caregivers who are also struggling with the demands of everyday life and the reality of losing someone they love, providing this level of care can be enormously burdensome. Many people eventually turn to paid caregivers, although few can afford to hire someone to provide care 24 hours a day.
Sources
“Patients Want A ‘Good Death’ At Home, But Hospice Care Can Badly Strain Families”. KFF Health News. https://kffhealthnews.org/news/home-hospice-care-unexpectedly-burdens-family-caregivers/
