Recently Published!!
by Maryclaire Torinus
Surviving Hospice: A Chaplain's Journey into the Big Business of Dying Plus: How To Find a Trustworthy Hospice
This narrative is an insider’s look into the hijacking of hospice by private equity and professional investors and the subsequent harm to patients, their families, and to the interdisciplinary clinical teams. It was released by a NYC publisher on October 31, 2023. For sale on Amazon.
The author, a hospice chaplain, tells end-of-life stories of her patients who were harmed by financially-motivated policies. This is a book for anyone who is embarking on making a choice about a hospice for their loved one, working chaplains, those in training, and those interested in what dying is like with a hospice who places patients as their primary stakeholders.
Maryclaire's experience working for an owner who sold to a private equity firm helped her to realize that the reputation and viability of hospice is in jeopardy. Her goal is to alert all who love hospice to rid it of professional investors.
— Stacy Juba, author, editor, and award-winning health journalist
"Powerful, beautifully written, and eye-opening, this book spotlights the inner workings of a multi-billion-dollar industry and the effect on patients, families, and hospice staff. The author shares poignant accounts of hospice at its best and worst and the hard-hitting truths she learned on her journey. A must-read for family members exploring hospice care."
— Laura Kukowski, CEO, editor, For-Profit Badger Hospice, LLC
"Maryclaire Torinus speaks with authority, providing this essential handbook for choosing a hospice care team and why that selection really matters."
— Greg Schneider President, HVA, co-author of The Changing Face of Hospice Volunteering in Hospice and Palliative Care
"When I first found out that Maryclaire Torinus was writing this book, I immediately contacted her because in my 25+ years supporting hospice volunteers, I have seen a gradual decline in the quality of care volunteers are permitted to provide the dying and their families. There are a variety of reasons for this that I describe in the Foreward of this book. Maryclaire provides invaluable insights that everyone should know, along with solutions to help others make the right choice in choosing a hospice."
Buy Now
Comments
Is this training still available?
I sent you an email with my apologies - which doesn't do a lot to help when you can't access the course. It appears that the msn address may be the obstacle. I manually confirmed your acceptance and all should be well. Please refer back to the email I have sent you for information and contact numbers.
The 2008 Medicare Condition of Participation basically says, § 418.78 Conditions of participation— Volunteers.
The hospice must use volunteers to the extent specified in paragraph (e) of this section. These volunteers must be used in defined roles and under the supervision of a designated hospice employee.
(a) Standard: Training. The hospice must maintain, document, and provide volunteer orientation and training that is consistent with hospice industry standards.
(b) Standard: Role. Volunteers must be used in day-to-day administrative and/or direct patient care roles.
(c) Standard: Recruiting and retaining. The hospice must document and demonstrate viable and ongoing efforts to recruit and retain volunteers.
The hospice volunteer training online program addresses the core information taught to volunteers on their first orientation day. The supervision and management of their roles after training are through a designated hospice employee.
I use the training to support the directive that the hospice must maintain, document, and provide volunteer
orientation and training that is consistent with hospice industry standards.
Those standards are included in the course modules. The modules are:
Hospice History and Philosophy
Ethics and Confidentiality
Communication
Interdisciplinary Roles
Hospice Eligibility
Grief and Bereavement
Infection Control and Safety
Advanced Directives
Caregiving
Beyond the Basics
Death and Dying
The modules are concise yet easy to understand by the average medical or non-medical person, each course has an exam that must be taken before proceeding to the next course, and at completion the transcripts of the student's training are sent to the student (volunteer) and to the agency to meet documentation requirements.
Agencies can purchase the course for one student for $10. When ordered one at a time, I have complete control over assignment of the course. For the agencies who order 5 or more courses (access for 5 volunteer) it is usually easier to set up a specific site for the agency with no additional fees and the volunteer coordinator can sign up prospective volunteers with an email address.
One agency took the one year unlimited membership and is using it to complete the first part of training with follow up depending on the volunteer's area of service. For instance, if the volunteer is administative, no further training is needed. If patient care is the area of service, the agency would provide additional training based on their protocol.
One agency with the annual membership arrangement is inviting area churches and local nursing homes to be their guest students and go through the volunteer training.
The program is very flexible and I suggest that people take the $10 course and see if it meets their needs. The unlimited membership is very costly so the individual course does not obligate anyone to do anything more than take the course once.
So far some of the feedback has been that the price should be higher. The reason it is $10 per volunteer is for a couple of reasons.
1 - I value my time and a lot of the behind the scenes work is done manually.
2 - The program must be cost effective to allow anyone to participate and not place a financial burden on agencies wishing to pay for the course in order to increase recruitment efforts.
3 -If someone wants to pay to learn the material, it is not a financial hardship.
Finally, documenting and demonstrating viable and ongoing efforts to recruit and retain volunteers is reflected in how your agency is trying new and innovative ways to gain volunteers.
I hope I answered all your questions, but if you have others I would love to address them.