There is no "I" in team. In hospice, it takes a village.

One of the most valuable lessons I have learned as a hospice nurse, is the importance of the team you share a patient with. Early on I didn't understand the roles of the other hospice team members, and in some ways, I felt they were encroaching on my time with a patient, perhaps even feeling threatened, as if their being there might indicate in some way that I was not capable of doing my job. I had a lot to learn.

When I first became a hospice nurse, I didn't know a lot about death, the process of dying, or what grief looked like. I put a lot on my shoulders thinking I was supposed to handle it all on my own, until I realized how truly blessed I was to have these incredible people to share each patient with. Once I became more aware, and really understood what a hospice team was all about, I found myself dependent on them to guide and teach me.

When a patient comes on to hospice, they are assigned a doctor, a nurse, a social worker, a chaplain, a home health aide (CNA/HHA), and a volunteer. Each brings something unique and valuable to the care of the patient, as well as those at the bedside. Over the years I have come to see the gifts each member of the team brings, and I have learned to rely on them. I go to them for answers, because I do not know it all. I have also gone to them for help for myself; for comfort, for support, for guidance and clarity. I need this team, as much as the patient and family does.

Many times, the family refuses additional support, which I believe stems from them not understanding the value each brings. I can appreciate this. I always take the time to explain each role, helping them to understand the benefits and encouraging them to embrace the many ways we are all here to help them navigate this time. I love the team I get to work with and have witnessed the gentle way they approach a dying patient and those grieving at the bedside. I see all of the many ways they offer support and I know that I cannot do this job without them.

The dying process, while it has many similarities, is unique and unpredictable and no one dies or grieves the same way. To navigate it in a way that allows each person to feel supported, comforted and heard, requires a team of hospice professionals who are trained to react and respond to a myriad of different symptoms and emotions.

Now when I see a member of our team at the bedside of a patient that I too am providing care for, I step back and I watch in awe of the beautiful work that they do, and I am not the least bit threatened they are there. In fact, it is just the opposite, I am thankful and honored to have shared each experience with them.

The other members of this team, the ones that don't get mentioned nearly as often, but deserve just as much credit are the 24/7 triage and after-hours nurses, the outreach and intake people who help to get our patients and families settled in with us, and everyone who works in the office making sure the the paperwork is processed and supplies are ordered and we have the tools needed to do the work we do. It takes a village.

I see the hospice team as a patchwork quilt made with a variety of different fabric squares. While they do not match, they are uniquely beautiful and when they come together they create an exquisite quilt that can wrap tightly around anyone who might feel ache, and comforts them and makes them feel safe.

That is what a hospice team means to me.

xo

Gabby