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At Gentle Shepherd Hospice, we make it a point to hire individuals who meet high professional standards and are gentle and compassionate. Many of our seasoned healthcare professionals have been with us for years, if not decades. They all have special training for working with the seriously ill and understand that our care extends beyond the needs of the patient to those of family members as well.
Caring for the seriously ill involves more than just addressing physical needs. This is a time of deep emotional and spiritual significance for everyone involved. Therefore, we work as a team that includes medical staff, social workers and chaplains. Everyone contributes their expertise as we deliver a plan of care that is responsive to the unique needs of each individual and family.
Our Medical Director
Our patients remain under the care of their primary physician and any specialists they have been seeing. In addition, they have the benefit of our medical director for additional clinical oversight.
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Our Nurses
Our patients receive periodic home visits from a nurse. Our nurses learn about your concerns and are quick to respond to questions and symptoms. We even have a nurse on call by telephone 24 hours a day.
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Our Nurses' Aides
There’s nothing like a bath or shower to boost one’s sense of wellbeing! Our nurses’ aides come to the home of hospice patients. Even if your loved one is unable to leave the bed, they will give him or her a sponge bath, shampoo, shave, help with makeup, put on fresh clothes, change the sheets, etc. Their cheerful presence often provides relief for family caregivers as well as for the patient.
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Our Social Worker
Finding resources
Part of our team approach includes the services of a licensed social worker. Social workers are especially knowledgeable about insurance, financial aid programs, and other community services that can prove invaluable when caring for a seriously ill family member.
Emotional support
In addition, they have training to help you, your loved one, or other family members cope with difficult emotional issues that often come up in the context of serious illness.
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Our Spiritual Support Staff
At Gentle Shepherd, our focus is entirely patient-centered. Everyone we serve is respected, regardless of their theological beliefs or opinions. We simply meet you “where you are,” listen to your thoughts and concerns and share with you God’s compassion for those who suffer.
Our hospice chaplain and staff provide:
- Love and support for those who suffer and feel alone
- A listening ear for caregivers, who may feel sadness, grief, fear or anger
- An opportunity for family members and their loved ones to process this “new reality” and address worries they have for each other
- Interactive discussions regarding the dignity of every human being and what it means to be made in the image of God
- A place to foster a new definition of hope
- Preparations for a peaceful death at home with family
- Conversations about life legacies and regrets, final wishes and funeral arrangements
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Our Telephone Staff
If you call during the day you will likely talk to our knowledgeable intake staff. They will route you to the specialist in the office best able to address your question or problem. You may talk with our referral coordinator who has special training in assessing the needs of families and matching them to the capabilities of our interdisciplinary team.
After hours nurse
If you call after hours, you may be connected to our on-call nurse who is available to answer your questions and make suggestions to help you immediately address the issue at hand.
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Our Volunteers
Experienced and caring
We are blessed with kind and caring members of the community who have participated in our volunteer training program. Frequently they have cared for a seriously ill friend or relative, so they know what you are going through. They can offer a sympathetic ear, lend a hand with daily tasks, and provide an opportunity for the person you care for to visit with someone new.
Life review
Many of our volunteers are trained in the art of life reminiscence. Patients often find it helpful to reflect upon their past and acknowledge achievements and perhaps even regrets. Talking with a virtual stranger, someone who has no history with the patient’s family and no judgments, can be a very meaningful experience.
A break for families
Even if the patient spends all of his or her time sleeping, a volunteer affords family caregivers a few hours to get out of the house and take a much needed break.
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