In this episode I am privileged to interview Barbara Karnes, RN.

Barbara is an award winning end of life educator, award wining nurse, NHPCO Winner 2018 & 2015 International Humanitarian Woman of the Year.

Yeah, she’s a big deal, and she took time out of her busy schedule to spend some time on the show.

To start out the episode, Barbara tells us the story of how she first entered hospice as a volunteer even though she was an RN.

She shares with us the origen story of “The Blue Book” also known as “Gone From My Sight.”

Barbara also introduces us to her new booklet, “Always Offer, Never Force: Food at the End of Life.” She explained how this booklet is the result of her own experience with the loss of her husband recently.

We discuss why death is actually not a medical event, and we talk about pain at the end of life.

Finally, Barbara give us some self care tips that include ways of having closure with the loss of our patients.

Please be sure to check out her website at BKBooks.com to pick up your own copies of all her booklets.

Be sure to follow Barbara Karnes on your favorite social media platform.

Instagram

Pinterest

Facebook

LinkedIn

Twitter

YouTube

As always, don’t forget to call, text or email to leave feedback! I would love to hear from you!

816-834-9191
James@confessionsofahospicenurse.net

Be sure to check out The Hospice Nursing Community for more hope, help and encouragement!

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In this episode I discuss the three-legged stool that makes up a hospice agency.

The three legs are Sales, Operations and Clinical. If either of these legs is having problems, the stool is at risk to fall down.

I recently had a listener ask me to discuss the differences between office staff and field staff. She asked the following question.

I am wondering if you have already completed a podcast on the differences between what management does in the office compared to what field nurses do, and how each impacts the other. 

It sounds like you have held each position and can can safely compare and contrast. 
For instance I know I have heard and seen a lot of field nurses say “ it’s easy for management to sit up there in the office and dictate what should be happening out here – while they are in the office drinking coffee and having a real lunch break” I know that’s not true but it’s easy to think that when we run in and out for supplies for a short time. 

In this episode I explain how Operations really drives the culture of the agency. It is Operations that provides a positive or negative environment for everyone to function within.

I also explain how poor leadership can really affect the moral of the organization.

I explain that much of what operations does is not on such a tight schedule that they can’t go out into the field at a moments notice to help out their team.

At the end of the episode I acknowledge the kind of stress and anxiety the field staff is faced with every day.

As always, don’t forget to call, text or email to leave feedback! I would love to hear from you!

816-834-9191
James@confessionsofahospicenurse.net

Be sure to check out The Hospice Nursing Community for more hope, help and encouragement!

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For this episode I decided to share a recent interview I did for the Nurse Keith podcast.

It was a great time to share with Keith’s audience some of my observations from the world of hospice. I believe this was a great opportunity to share hospice with a whole new audience.

Take a minute to visit Keith’s web site, and throw some support his way!

https://nursekeith.com/

As always, don’t forget to call, text or email to leave feedback! I would love to hear from you!

816-834-9191
James@confessionsofahospicenurse.net

Be sure to check out The Hospice Nursing Community for more hope, help and encouragement!

Subscribe Via Email!

In this episode I answer a listener email question regarding death visits.

No two death visits are alike, so in this episode I try to cover some of the basics.

I cover some of the following topics.

1. Call the funeral home as quickly as possible
2. It’s not about you
3. Don’t always be in a hurry to interject yourself
4. Be sensitive to other cultures
5. To stay or not to stay
6. Post mortem care
7. Clothing

Then I finish the episode telling several stories from my own experiences and some of the things I did well, and some of the things I didn’t do so well.

As always, don’t forget to call, text or email to leave feedback! I would love to hear from you!

816-834-9191
James@confessionsofahospicenurse.net

Be sure to check out The Hospice Nursing Community for more hope, help and encouragement!

Subscribe Via Email!

In this episode I answer the following question from a listener.

Hi, any chance of getting a podcast on Service Failures?  I’ve been in hospice for around two years.  I hear the term thrown around, but can’t quite grasp all the details.  I don’t see any podcasts or blog posts around this subject, but I suspect the knowledge would be quite valuable.

Thanks,

Jade

I answer Jade’s question in two parts. I start by addressing Medicare’s Conditions of Participation for all hospice providers. For the second half I address service failures in general and how they relate to each hospice provider’s philosophy of care.

The Medicare COPs I review are the following.

1. Election of hospice benefit
2. The IDG/IDT
3. Admissions
4. Discharge Types
5. Face-to-face requirements
6. Individualized care plans
7. 24 Hour Nursing Services
8. The 4 Levels of Care

For agency philosophy we review the following areas that could result in service failures.

1. Visit frequencies
2. Medication Refills
3. Supplies
4. Calling 911
5. Patient dies in discomfort
6. On-Call
7. Anything that the patient perceives as a failure

I also promise to provide the NHPCO overview of the Medicare Conditions of Participation. You can download the COPs HERE.

As always, don’t forget to call, text or email to leave feedback! I would love to hear from you!

816-834-9191
James@confessionsofahospicenurse.net

Be sure to check out The Hospice Nursing Community for more hope, help and encouragement!

Subscribe via Email!

In this episode I focus on the top 6 concepts I believe are essential to promoting the growth of a hospice office.

Ultimately, the administrator is responsible for creating an environment for success. Any administrator who wants to blame others for lack of success, is an administrator nobody wants to follow.

Here is the list of items I focus on during this episode.

1. Foster healthy relationships between sales and clinical
   
2. Take ownership of the branch
   
3. Create a consistent and repeatable experience
   
4. Love your team
   
5. Develop your clinical director
   
6. Be visible

These items are what I find to be the most powerful for creating a successful environment. Still, there are other ways to grow a branch.

This episode is about the administrator taking responsibility for the success of their branch. It starts and ends with the administrator.

As always, don’t forget to call, text or email to leave feedback! I would love to hear from you!

816-834-9191
James@confessionsofahospicenurse.net

Be sure to check out The Hospice Nursing Community for more hope, help and encouragement!

Subscribe Via Email!

In this episode I review my strategies when I have family members who are afraid to tell their loved one that hospice is being consulted for care.

I spend some time helping you understand the real difference between patients who can understand what they are being signed up for versus patients who are confused and can’t understand the decisions being made for them.

I talk about using my Clinical Data Sheet during conversation and assessment to gather information and ask questions.

I offer access to my show outline for easy reference. You can download the PDF version by clicking HERE.

I also spend some time explaining how to adjust your conversation to find out what kind of experience (if any) your patient or caregivers have with hospice.

As always, don’t forget to call, text or email to leave feedback! I would love to hear from you!

816-834-9191
James@confessionsofahospicenurse.net

Be sure to check out The Hospice Nursing Community for more hope, help and encouragement!

Subscribe Via Email!

Welcome to 2024!

For today’s episode I decided to present you with 3 things I feel like every hospice nurse needs to find success and peace of mind!

In this episode I review the importance of making sure we pull into our driveways at the end of the day with all of our work completed.

I point out the importance of making sure all of our charting is done at the bedside. I review some of the differences between a visit nurse and case manager.

My second point focuses on the importance of establishing a work-life balance. I discuss some boundaries with our patients that are important.

I spend a few minutes explaining the importance of involving the entire team which includes the chaplain and social worker.

At the end I encourage all of you to stay the course and remain hospice nurses with the goal of establishing healthy habits.

As always, don’t forget to call, text or email to leave feedback! I would love to hear from you!

816-834-9191
James@confessionsofahospicenurse.net

Be sure to check out The Hospice Nursing Community for more hope, help and encouragement!

Subscribe Via Email!

This episode is all about leadership.

Everyone in hospice is a leader, and being a leader is completely different than being a boss.

In this episode I provide some practical advice to help make sure we never lose our perspective on what our nurses go through every day.

I encourage administrators and clinical directors to do ride alongs with a field nurse at least twice a year.

I spend quite a bit of time talking about avoiding spending a lot of time trying to place blame for agency failures.

In a very strange turn of events, I spend time talking about the dangers of gaslighting when trying to always place blame when mistakes happen.

At the end of the show I recommend the following books to help us all grow as leaders.

Leaders Eat Last – Simon Sinek

The Speed of Trust – Stephen Covey

It’s your Ship – Michael Abroshoff

Developing the leader within you – John Maxwell

Developing the leaders around you – John Maxwell

Becoming a person of influence – John Maxwell

The 21 Irrefutable laws of leadership – John Maxwell

The 8 paradoxes of great leadership – Tim Elmore

In a pit with a lion on a snowy day – Mark Batterson

As always, don’t forget to call, text or email to leave feedback! I would love to hear from you!

816-834-9191
James@confessionsofahospicenurse.net

Be sure to check out The Hospice Nursing Community for more hope, help and encouragement!

Subscribe Via Email!

In this episode I perform (if you want to call it that) dramatic readings of 11 posts from this blog.

You can view and read the blog posts from the following links.

The Last Bath

The Last Prayer

Hospice Is Like Haircuts?

Be Like Aunt Joyce

My Friends Keep Dying

A Night at the Park

The Last Kiss

The Guardian

I Remember Angie

Whatever You Say, James

It’s Okay To Die On Thanksgiving

As always, don’t forget to call, text or email to leave feedback! I would love to hear from you!

816-834-9191
James@confessionsofahospicenurse.net

Be sure to check out The Hospice Nursing Community for more hope, help and encouragement!

Subscribe Via Email!