When do you call in hospice?
Hospice care is by definition reserved for terminally ill patients, who can no longer benefit from traditional medical care and are most in want of care that keeps them as comfortable and free of pain in their final days as possible. In fact, most hospice services require a doctor's certification that death is likely to occur within six months before they will make their services available.
To find the specific requirements of the nearest hospice providers, check out the "Hospice Search" function at the American Hospice Foundation.
But it sounds as if you're feeling the real need for some type of help in caring for your parent. If your mother or father doesn't qualify for hospice care, consider other forms of help, including:
- Home care, which includes assistance with the activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and walking
- Home health care, which involves skilled nursing or therapy services
- Adult day health care, for people who need treatment for multiple, chronic health conditions as an alternative to entering some type of skilled nursing facility, or
- Adult day care centers, which provide personal care and social activities -- along with daytime supervision and a variety of social and support services.
The specific services available and the types of care they can provide vary dramatically. You may best begin a search for local services the old-fashioned way: by looking in the telephone book under "Adult Care."
My FIL has end stage renal failure he stopped urinating some time ago has dialyis three days a week, heart failure, COPD with lungs failing takes 3 liter oxygen, has a ulcerating pressure wound on his leg stump(both legs amputated last year.his health has been declining quite rapidly and he has been the hospital once a month since september with various health issues. now hes back in the hospital with staff infection from the wound. we have tried to talk to him about hospice but he wont hear of it. his Dr had a very frank talk with him about hospice also. he says dialysis is keeping alive and wont hear of hospice because they will take him off of it. but hes just getting weaker and more frail as the days go on and im beginning to think dialyis is taking a huge toll on him as he sleeps all day now and even more so after treatment. he's just exhausted and in pain. how do we talk to him about this?
My FIL was in the hospital last week with ulcerating wound on his amputated leg this is ongoing problem for him. he has been in the hospital more the past three months than home,he also suffers with COPD, renal failure and CHF. the past year the family has been talking to him about hospice as the decline in his health has accelerated but he didn't want to hear about it at all. when he came home Sunday we all felt that a tipping point had been reached for him,he is so weak and tired. when the home care nurse came in the afternoon my FIL asked her to explain hospice again to him which she did and he finally agreed to go on hospice telling the nurse that he is just to tired to go to dialysis any longer and just wants to rest:( so sad this dying business. but as a family we were relived that he had made this decision. hospice is always up to the patient and waiting for them to decide when the time is right can be very hard.My FIL feels is like giving up but when he agreed to it his relief was all over his face and he seems quite at peace now with it as though he knows its ok to let go now.the hospice nurses are wonderful and caring i love them all! i don't what we have done without their help and understanding.
As a volunteer for Hospice yes, you can use hospice long before the begining of the end. Some patients just need company and special time. One lady I cared for loved hand and arms massage along with reading to her. She was in her 90's. She was a sweetheart. I miss her.
If you are caring for someone at home and you know that he/she qualifies for hospice care but are wondering when is the right time to call in hospice, then you should consider how able you are to continue caring for the person. For example, when my Mom was no longer able to help me move her in and out of her wheelchair, then we knew that we had a situation that we needed help with. In a typical house, you can't carry a person without real risk of injuring them or your yourself. No one wants that to happen. Then you need outside help and the kind of facilities that hospice can provide.
hi, i am a hospice nurse, my job is a clinical liason, which means i educate medical staff, families and potential patients about hospice care. Hospice is appropriate for patients with a life limiting illness and usually with a life expectancy of 6 months or less. Of course, no one can predict the exact course of a terminal illness and there are patients who are in hospice longer than 6 months, unfortunately because of fear, lack of understanding and lack of communication, most people have hospice services only a very short period of time, sometimes days. This denies the patient and loved ones the full services that hospice can offer. I suggest you contact a local hospice and have someone come in and have an honest discussion with your loved one and you so you can make an infomred decision, I have been a hospice nurse for several years and I have never heard anyone say the wished they had of waited longer before coming to hospice.
