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!
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.
Call the funeral home as quickly as possible
It’s not about you
Don’t always be in a hurry to interject yourself
Be sensitive to other cultures
To stay or not to stay
Post mortem care
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!
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.
Election of hospice benefit
The IDG/IDT
Admissions
Discharge Types
Face-to-face requirements
Individualized care plans
24 Hour Nursing Services
The 4 Levels of Care
For agency philosophy we review the following areas that could result in service failures.
Visit frequencies
Medication Refills
Supplies
Calling 911
Patient dies in discomfort
On-Call
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!
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.
Foster healthy relationships between sales and clinical
Take ownership of the branch
Create a consistent and repeatable experience
Love your team
Develop your clinical director
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!
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!
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!
For this episode I take one of my coaching sessions from inside The Hospice Nursing Community and bring it to the show.
This is something I have ever done before. In general, I like to make sure content inside of The Hospice Nursing Community is unique and cannot be found anywhere else.
In this episode, I review 8 different characteristics that I believe are essential for a successful case manager to possess.
Reliability The agency and its patients will suffer if they have a case manager who calls in all the time and is generally unreliable.
Orgainized A case manager must be organized to be successful.
Integrity A case manager needs to be a person of their word. They need to be where they say that will be and do what they say they will do.
Humility An arrogant case manager has no place in hospice. At its care, Hospice care is serving others. Arrogant nurses struggle with serving others.
Honesty Hospice comes with a lot of autonomy. It is easily for hospice staff in general to sneak around and get caught up in personal activities when they should be working.
Ownership A good case manager takes ownership of their caseload. They don’t wait around for someone else to fix the problems. they are proactive.
Present A case manager avoids distractions during patient visits. They also chart at the bedside.
Be a Finisher A case manager must make sure they walk in the front door of their home with the day’s work completed, because home is our first job.
Every one of these character traits are essential for case management succsss.
As always, don’t forget to call, text or email to leave feedback! I would love to hear from you!
In this episode I answer the following question from May. May has been charged with a hospice startup.
I always strive to maintain the values of empathy and fairness, and I am committed to being an unwavering advocate for our team and our patients. Currently, we’ve encountered challenges with documentation using Matrix Care. The process has proven to be time-consuming, and I am reaching out to see if you have insight on how to optimize the documentation procedures. I would greatly appreciate any pointers or guidance you can provide.
I take the long road to answer May’s question by sharing what I would want to focus on if I were in her position.
I cover the following concepts.
Ask yourself “does it scale,” with every new idea or solution.
The importance of creating culture
Team first. Patients second.
Build and maintain a robust orientation program
Deep dive your EMR
Be a brave leader
During the episode I share that I am currently building what I call “Tip Sheets” for Kantime; the EMR my company uses.
I explain that I will be offering my Kantime Tip Sheets as a product from The Hospice Nursing Community. Please reach out to me via email at james@confessionsofahospicenurse.net or phone at 816-834-9191 to be put on the waiting list.
During the show I offer May a free membership at The Hospice Nursing Community with access to my Tip Sheets template as well as all my orientation materials to help her get started with this new endeavor.
As always, don’t forget to call, text or email to leave feedback! I would love to hear from you!
