The ethical aspects of the care of the dying are very important and often not well understood due to their complex nature. This group is a venue to discuss ethical issues that you may be experiencing in your organization. 

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  • Thanks Greg - vast and vital topic!

     

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Should doctors and patients learn to plan humane, happier endings rather than trying to prolong life?

NOTE: I chose to place this article under Ethics because I believe, as this article illustrates, that modern medicine is ethically violating their oath to cause no harm with their choices in treatment of many at the end of life. ~Greg Schneider, Founder & President, HVA Click here to link to the full article: The Independent SUNDAY 30 NOVEMBER 2014 This is an excerpt of various parts from the full article that illustrate the problem. ...There is no doubt that standard treatment for cancers,…

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HOSPICE VOLUNTEER ETHICS BOUNDARIES: HOW TO ESTABLISH AND IMPROVE THEM (RESEARCH)

Does your hospice-palliative care organization have clear guidelines regarding boundaries for volunteers? If not, consider creating or modifying them to prevent future problems. Mount Allison University in Canada researched this topic with two community-based hospice programs. When 79 hospice-palliative volunteers responded to a 27-item Boundary Issues Questionnaire, they indicated the boundary of each item. These are examples of one item in each of the three major categories: Definite Boundary…

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Hiding the truth from patients...

I have a serious concern when families hide the truth from a patient. I currently have a patient that is completely oriented and we, the hospice care team, are being asked to hide who we are, what the patients diagnosis is. We are not allowed to say Hospice, dying or death etc. What are your thoughts and what can I do? This situation simply feels very wrong to me especially since we are asking this patient to deceide his code status when he does not have any of the necessary facts to make such…

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Unsafe Care Situations

Volunteers and staff who provide care to those under hospice care can witness situations that can make them feel helpless due to the complexity of the caregiving situation. I had a personal experience with a hospice patient whose caregiver was the spouse.  The spouse had cared for her husband for many years and now the disease and her husband's life was coming to an end. In today's economy and the attitude that currently seems to surround healthcare that people should not have affordable…

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CAREGIVERS STORE

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."

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