9 May

Count it all joy

Posted by Gilchrist in Hospice Care. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Lisa Rogers, Gilchrist Hospice Care Clinical Manager

Lisa Rogers,
Gilchrist Hospice Care
Clinical Manager

Daily, our challenge as hospice professionals is to balance quality patient care with the many patient and family demands– generally with limited resources. Nurses rely on their knowledge base, assessment and critical thinking, and time management skills greatly. Our patients and their families also rely on our knowledge and assessment skills but more than anything, they rely on our ability to be caring and compassionate caregivers.

Recently, I had the opportunity to think about compassion. Great philosophers have deemed compassion as the greatest of virtues. Compassion is the ability to understand the suffering of others and to have great empathy for them. How then do we demonstrate compassion toward ourselves? In order to be compassionate toward others, we must be compassionate to ourselves. We must respect and listen to our own needs and at times, our own suffering.

Suffering can manifest itself in many ways – depression, exhaustion, frustration, and stress (mental, emotional, physical). When we are overwhelmed by our own suffering, it can be challenging to have compassion toward others in the way that they expect, need, and deserve and needless to say, it can be difficult to have compassion toward ourselves. We must find ways in our day-to-day work and home lives to find ways to prevent compassion fatigue and decrease stress. We must find ways, even in our own despair to Count It All Joy!

Here are several examples of how to bring joy into our busy and stressful lives:

First: imagine happiness in the business of the day, stop for a few moments and imagine being happy. Imagine that place where you are with people you love and doing something that you truly enjoy (walking on the beach, taking a run or bike ride, reading a good book); whatever it is that brings you joy.

Second: indeed, count it all joy…even when we have an especially difficult and stressful day. Focus on the small successes. Did you bring a smile to someone? Did a patient or family member say something that made you smile? Did you learn something new? At the end of the day, keep a journal of gratefulness and write down three things every day of good things that have happened.

Third: let go of the feeling of being busy and overwhelmed. Learn to find peace even in the midst of business. Often we find ourselves rushing from one patient to the next without out much time to even catch our breaths in between. Try giving yourself mini-mental breaks throughout the day. Stop. Breathe deeply. Be aware of the beauty around you and for a few minutes take it all in. View each breath as a miracle.

And finally: one of the greatest things we can do is look for the goodness in others. Enter challenging situations with a mindset of “I get to” instead of “I have to”; “I get to see Mrs. Jones today…what can I share with her to make her feel better today? What can I learn from her today? How can my interaction with her today be positive and beneficial for both of us? When we truly enjoy our interactions with others, we feel better about ourselves. Spend time at each interaction identifying the positive qualities – a sense of humor, a warm hand shake, intelligence, and no matter how displaced, most often their genuine love and caring for their friends/family. Focus on the goodness and the traits that we can admire and appreciate and somehow feeling better about them, we feel a little better about ourselves and we inevitably find ourselves having more joy.

As we celebrate Nurse’s Week, I not only celebrate my fellow nurse’s but I celebrate each and every one of my Gilchrist colleagues for your tireless commitment and dedication. May you not only have compassion for your patients/family members but compassion to one another, and have compassion for yourselves.

Here’s to more joy!

26 Apr

What’s it like being a twin?

Posted by Gilchrist in Hospice Care. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Tina Maggio, Clinical Manager at Gilchrist Center

Tina Maggio, Clinical Manager at Gilchrist Center

It’s funny when people ask Gina and I what it is like being a twin. I do not really know how to answer that since I do not know anything different. What I can say is that I always had a friend, someone to confide in and someone who was always on my side through thick and thin. The fact that we love our job – which allows us to provide hospice care to patients and their families – is an extra bonus.

In the past few months, Gina and I have had some recognition through a newspaper article in the Baltimore Sun and more recently were filmed for a short video for the BBC. We are certainly honored to have had the experience and to share with local and international audiences what exceptional services Gilchrist Hospice Care provides. However, unlike with the BBC video that focused more on our work with our hospice patients and their families and what we do for them every day, we were disappointed that the newspaper article focused more on the fact that we are twins.

There’s no denying what a unique and special bond twins share. And while it is a big part of who we are, it’s not all we are. We are first and foremost, dedicated to hospice and the patients and families we serve. Being a twin definitely has its benefits in that we both have the same work ethic of wanting to do our best. For instance, Gina can start a project and I can finish it or vice versa. But we love our jobs and simply want everyone to know that hospice is about living and how quality of life can be enhanced by hospice for those that are terminally ill.

24 Apr

An important part of the hospice experience.

Posted by Gilchrist in Hospice Care, Volunteers. Tagged: , , , , , , .

To continue to show our appreciation for National Volunteer Week, we asked Gilchrist Volunteer, Marion E. Robinson, to tell us her story:

It’s been more than 14 years since my beloved Bill died, and I still remember those last weeks and days like it was yesterday. I remember the deep sadness. I remember watching him slip away. But mostly, I remember how I just needed to get out, to take time for myself – to go to the market or the bank, to walk in the fresh air.

Maybe that’s why, when the volunteer office at Gilchrist Hospice Care calls with an assignment to visit a patient, I jump. I might have plans, but I always say, the family needs me more than the movies or a lunch date. I know because I was in their shoes once. I remember how precious moments away, spent doing the most ordinary activities, would give me the strength I needed to make it through to the next day.

I started volunteering at Gilchrist a decade ago, about the same time I retired from my job as an earnings clerk at Social Security. I always knew I wanted to help out in some way; after all, Gilchrist had been a lifeline for me after Bill died. I spent many months working with the Bereavement department as I worked to overcome the grief that was taking over my life.

In the years since, I have tried to be there for every call. I wouldn’t say there’s anything spectacular about the time I spend with my patients – at least not on the surface. But I know my volunteer families would say our interactions are an important part of their hospice experience. It was for the patient who loved to spar with me over politics; his wife said he looked forward to our weekly debates. It also was for the family who lives around the corner from me; her daughter still thanks me every time we bump into each other.

Then, there’s my current family. The husband can’t talk, but the wife needs a weekly break. I’ll come by for two hours. Sometimes it’s closer to four. I spend my time there just talking to him, or watching his favorite show, The Price is Right. She takes the time to do her grocery shopping, or stop at the bank. I tell her to take all the time she needs.

 I know I’m helping in ways my families may not completely understand just yet.

 I remember how it was. I get it. It is the simplest of things – time to recharge – that mean the most during those terrible last days. I know I’m making a difference.

Learn more about Gilchrist Volunteers.

22 Apr

Celebrating National Volunteer Week with Comfort, Love and Respect

Posted by Gilchrist in Volunteers. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

DebbieJones_blogThe below poem clearly represents the theme for this year’s National Volunteer Week message; Comfort – Love – Respect.  Each  of our volunteers brings comfort to our patients, caregivers and loved ones by being a presence, offering respite care, running an errand, reading a story or playing a board game and so much more.  Each one of our volunteers brings love by giving a hug, providing a loving touch, or offering a listening ear.  Each one of our volunteers brings respect to those we serve by being non-judgmental, accepting individual personalities, attitudes, values and beliefs.  To say THANK YOU is not enough for all they do to help Gilchrist Hospice Care provide the finest in end of life care and continue the circle of care by meeting the unique needs of our patients and their families.

 

THE ENTERING

 

We enter their lives, their homes

At a time of such turmoil and sadness

And we witness to the most remarkable people that ever were.

 

We enter their homes, their lives

And marvel and wonder at what we see

And are touched by their courage and their willingness to share.

 

We enter their lives and their homes

Hoping to make a difference in the time that is left

Yet knowing all the time that in reality, they will make such a

difference in our lives, that we will never be the same.

 

We enter their homes, their lives

And try to imagine how it would be if things were reversed

And we would be opening up our lives to a complete stranger on a

journey that we did not choose to take.

 

The entering – a reverent time

When we offer ourselves and we connect

When we are saddened but also privileged and somewhat in awe

That we are permitted to witness the human spirit at its finest.

 

Author unknown

 

With grateful hearts the entire staff of Gilchrist Hospice Care extends their deep appreciation to our volunteers for their untiring efforts and dedication to our organization.

More information about Gilchrist Volunteers or to become a volunteer.

18 Apr

The power of counseling to promote healing

Posted by Gilchrist in Bereavement Services, Hospice Care, Spiritual & Emotional Support.

Beth Campbell, Bereavement Intern, Gilchrist Hospice Care

Beth Campbell, Bereavement Intern, Gilchrist Hospice Care

In late summer, I began a clinical placement at Gilchrist Hospice Care’s Howard County Office in the Bereavement Services Department  as a part of the masters program in pastoral counseling at Loyola University in which I am enrolled. When I told friends, family and even graduate student colleagues at Loyola that I accepted a position as a Bereavement Intern, the overwhelming response I received was one of several variations of, “Oh that sounds like such sad work….how can you do such sad work?”  Although I was eager to help clients and grow my counseling skills, I wondered if working with grieving persons would indeed be exceptionally sad or discouraging.

The months here at Gilchrist unfolded with rich opportunity to contribute to people’s grief work through support groups, individual grief counseling, workshops, wellness days, retreats, and memorial services.  I journeyed with those who lost a child, a spouse, a mother, a father, a grandmother, a nephew, a sister…all deeply painful losses with significant impact. I worked with clients aged 6 to 83 from diverse cultural, socioeconomic, religious and educational backgrounds….every one fascinating, with profound stories of love and life changed by the passing of someone close. As Counseling Awareness Month and my internship wind down, I reflect with gratitude on my experience as a Bereavement Counselor Intern and am encouraged by the triumph I witness in peoples’ lives.

Grief is an unwelcome intruder, disrupting life and forcing change. Over and over again, however, clients take courageous steps towards a new life without their loved one. They access inner strength through their spirituality, supportive relationships and connection with the loved one they grieve. Smiles emerge from tears. Glimmers of hope break through darkness. Healing happens.  Life returns, even more resilient than before.

Counselors at Gilchrist have the sacred opportunity to accompany those called to this journey of grief. While there were certainly many moments of great sadness; overall, I found that listening to the bereaved, allowing them to tell their stories, explore their feelings and begin to heal has been far from sad.  I have been inspired by the resilience of the human spirit and the power of counseling to promote healing.

I will gratefully take the lessons learned from these courageous clients with me as I move through my career and through my own life experiences.

16 Apr

When the world grieves

Posted by Gilchrist in Bereavement Services, Hospice Care, News & Regulations. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

Aminah Wells, Gilchrist Hospice Care, Clinical Bereavement Counselor

Aminah Wells, Gilchrist Hospice Care, Clinical Bereavement Counselor

There are moments that make us pause and reflect, and express gratitude for the safety of the people we love, and empathize for those whose loved ones have been lost. There are moments that make us hug a little longer, and hold a hand a little tighter.  Moments that bring grief to our hearts and tears to our eyes.

Today, we all experienced one of more of these moments after hearing the news of two explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. After seeing images of those who were injured and learning of the 3 deaths that occurred.

There are moments when loss doesn’t isolate us, it unites us.  When average citizens become heroes and the hate in the heart of one, is shadowed by the goodness in the hearts of many. There are moments when our race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and class don’t matter.  Moments when we are simply citizens of the world.  Today, we also experienced these moments as we watched volunteers race to help those in need and heard about Boston residents opening their homes to strangers without a place to go.

The effects of this tragedy are felt throughout the world, as runners from 96 countries were represented at this year’s marathon.  And the effects of this tragedy may be felt by you on a more personal level. Maybe you knew one of the more than 400 Marylanders who were participants in the race. Or maybe a relative or close friend lives in Boston or a neighboring city. Or maybe you are already grieving a loss and find the news of this tragedy to be too much to bear so soon.

What do we do in times like these, where the places we should feel safest become places tarnished by tragedy, loss and pain? Where celebration is turned into sadness and festivity into fear?  This is what we do….we come together, we remember to love, and we try to look for hope.  We put aside our differences and come to the aid our friends and family whose lives have been forever changed, and we come to the aid of strangers whose names we may never know.  We comfort one another. We remember that we are not alone.  We whisper a silent prayer and we meditate on love and kindness for our world.  We teach our children to love themselves and to love one another.  We try to be heroes everyday.

2 Apr

Honoring our clinical bereavement counselors

Posted by Gilchrist in Bereavement Services, Events, Hospice Care. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , .

Robin Stocksdale, Gilchrist Hospice Care Bereavement Services Manager

Robin Stocksdale,
Gilchrist Hospice Care
Bereavement Services Manager

In my thirteen years of working for Gilchrist Hospice Care, I have had the privilege of working with some amazing colleagues who provide exceptional care for the families and friends of Gilchrist’s patients.  In March, we honored some of my colleagues through both Social Work Month and Child Life Month.  April is Counseling Awareness Month – and we want to take the opportunity to honor all of our Clinical Bereavement Counselors.

Gilchrist Hospice Care proudly employs eight Clinical Bereavement Counselors, all of whom hold master’s degrees in either psychology, social work, or pastoral counseling, and who are licensed in the State of Maryland at the highest clinical level.  Most are certified in Thanatology, the study of death, dying and bereavement.

These dedicated Bereavement Counselors provide compassionate emotional support to families and friends of loved ones who have died.  They are committed to supporting those who are grieving as they adjust to the loss, promoting healthy grieving, and encouraging survivors to create new lives of fullness and meaning.

Not only do our Bereavement Counselors offer counseling sessions to bereaved of hospice patients, they also serve those in the community who have suffered the loss of a loved one, sometimes in traumatic ways.  They additionally reach out to area businesses, faith communities, schools and long-term care facilities to support employees who are grieving, and to coach them in how to support a friend or colleague who is grieving.  You may also find Bereavement Counselors facilitating support groups, workshops and special events designed to care for those who are grieving.

One such event that the Bereavement Counselors are creating is “Caring for the Mind, Body and Spirit” a one day spring retreat for those who are grieving.  It will be held on Tuesday, April 30 from 8:30 to 5:00 p.m. at the lovely Gramercy Mansion Conference Center, 1400 Greenspring Valley Road, Baltimore, Maryland  21153.  The charge of $60 per person covers the cost of the retreat center, workshops, continental breakfast and a light lunch.  We hope that you will join us if you are grieving, or encourage friends who are grieving to attend.  Registration and payment are required by Friday, April 12.  For more information, call 443-539-4086 or e-mail ghc_bereavement@gilchristhospice.org

And so, congratulations and thank you to our Clinical Bereavement Counselors for the high quality, compassionate, dedicated care you provide to those who are grieving.

For more information about Gilchrist Hospice Care’s bereavement services: more info

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