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CAREGIVERS STORE
by Rashani Rea & Kathy Douglas
Those who companion suffering daily, such as hospice nurses and volunteers, will surely appreciate this beautiful work. With 62 original art collages by Rashani Réa, five beautiful chapters by Kathy Douglas, and a foreword by Jean Watson, this exquisite book is a peaceful refuge for contemplation, inquiry, reflection and inspiration for those who traverse the joys and sorrows of nursing.
Kathy Douglas, RN, MPH-HA is a nationally recognized nurse leader, filmmaker and entrepreneur.
Rashani Réa is a prolific artist and musician, a creatrice of sanctuaries and a respected spiritual mentor.
“This is a beloved book and beyond a book. It is an evocative, poetic, ecstatic, and inspirited sacred, experiential calling. A calling to you--YES, YOU.”
— Jean Watson, PhD, RN, AHN-BC, FAAN, Living Legend (AAN)
“Those who companion suffering daily need to turn inward to metabolize what they have witnessed. This exquisite book, filled with beautiful images and poetic wise words, is the inspiration and support needed to grow a wise heart.”
— Frank Ostaseski, founder and director of the Metta Institute and author of The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully
“In this unique time of the COVID-19 pandemic, this book should be considered a tribute to the tremendous courage being displayed by nurses around the world. There is much wisdom conveyed throughout by those who have been there serving others with such grace.”
— Greg Schneider President, HVA, co-author of The Changing Face of Hospice Volunteering in Hospice and Palliative Care
Replies
From the Final Rule of the Medicare Conditions of Participation:
The phrase ‘‘day-to-day,’’
as used, requires hospices to incorporate
volunteer services into their daily
patient care and operations routine in
order to retain the volunteer-based
essence of hospice as it originated in the
United States. The phrase does not
preclude hospices from using volunteer
services for special events or nonroutine
occurrences. Hospices must use
volunteers for day-to-day services, and
may use volunteers for other services as
well.
A local flower shop donates flowers to our hospice once weekly. I pick those up and we have a team of volunteers (3-4) who are here every Tuesday to arrange these flowers in vases (also donated) and then another group of 3-4 direct care volunteers deliver these to our patients every week. This can create several hours as well if this is a possibility. You can also check with your local supermarkets to see what they do with flowers they cannot sell. They may be willing to give you those. The vases are found for 5-25 cents each at garage sales and local consignment stores.
We also have a few "musically-inclined" volunteers who play music one Sat. per month to our NF patients. You may find this talent at area churches. We also just started a Pet Therapy program in our nursing facilities as well.
You may also be able to partner with other agencies (minimum security prisons, state agenies (single moms on state aid programs who need job/skills training) to achieve your goal.
I send flyers to all area churches every spring asking them to announce our need for volunteers thru announcements, church bulletin, via their websites or newsletters. This has worked great for volunteer recruiting here!
I also sent a letter/flyer to the nursing dept head at our local community college, as well as several flyers to be posted in every building of our local community college.
Hope this helps!
Julie Cranz
Hospice of Western KY
We used a local high school health occupations class to go through the online training and now they are preparing to do flower deliveries and yard work. With 10 in the group it should help for some quick hours and the patients/families get a nice yard for the visitors to their home.
Place flyers in beauty salons, barber shops- coffee houses- etc.
Hope these ideas help.
Volunteers come from many places, but it is not a magic trick- tell your boss in so many words-hospice is a calling- not many people want to do this and many stay for a short time.
Try a fun volunteer support meeting and encourage your existing volunteers to bring a volunteer candidate. I suggest a Hospice oriented movie such as Big Fish or The Bucket List. Serve popcorn and follow the movie with a conversation on how the movie relates to the Hospice Philosophy, you'll know right away who your next volunteers will be. Remember in a rural setting, word of mouth is one of your best recruiting tools!