News Articles

Not All Hospices are Equal

Date: 05/08/2007

VNA Hospice is known nationally as a Hospice of Excellence.

By Lois Thompson

"Not all hospices are created equal," stated Judy Connelly, Director of VNA Hospice. In Connelly's position, it's understandable if she thinks VNA Hospice stands out above the rest; but her reasoning is based on more than pride.

"We've been practicing for more than 25 years," she said, "and we're known nationally as a Hospice of Excellence. This really does separate us from other hospice programs. The reason is simple, we've always had advanced care practice, and we are extremely savvy technologically. Our team has used laptops for 15 years, so patient information is readily available to those providing care."

The idea of hospice care is somewhat unclear to some people, but Connelly has a simple definition: "Hospice is a philosophy of care," she said, "and it can be provided wherever you reside: in your home, in nursing homes, in personal care or assisted living facilities. We can take our philosophy of care anywhere the patient and family need it to be."

Western Pennsylvania has an abundance of hospices, 27 in Allegheny County, alone but Connelly pointed out a major difference between VNA Hospice and the others: "The uniqueness of our program is that our practitioners whether home health aides, LPNs, RNs—have advanced certification and expertise in end-of-life care," she said. "Our team also includes a Clinical Specialist, Board certified physicians, End of Life Educators, and an extensive FREE bereavement program coordinated by a certified Thanatologist with a Master's in Bereavement. Few hospices can touch our degree of expertise."

She went on, "What people don't realize is, many hospices move into town and hire nurses without extensive education or support in hospice care. Most nurses do not receive end-of-life care instruction in their nursing education."

Connelly said that, in addition to the patients, hospice care extends to the families themselves, and includes spiritual counselors and social workers. "Our job is to educate the family so they can cope, care for and follow the final wishes of the patient."

She added that hospice is "the only health care arena that requires grief and loss support to the survivors."

Differences exist among hospices, so Connelly emphasized an important point for families to consider: "The most crucial thing people do not realize is, they have a choice of which hospice they want," she said. "They often allow physicians to make the choice for them because they think every hospice is alike, but they're not."

"Working in hospice is such an honor and a privilege. People invite us into their homes to be part of this very important journey." And the right hospice can play a crucial role in this journey. "A recent article reported hospice patients are living longer than expected when they receive expert care, when they are surrounded by those they love, and when they're where they want to be," Connelly concluded.