january volunteer education personal rituals: ways of
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VOLUNTEER VOICES Whatcom Hospice Volunteer Newsletter—
A Prog ram of PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medica l Center
Whatcom Hospice, 2800 Douglas Ave.,
Bellingham, WA 98225 360.733.5877
Fax: 360.788.6884 Editor/Volunteer
Coordinator: Dianne Gillespie
360.788.6892
Hospice House Volunteer Associates:
360.788.6885.
Noreen Fassler:
April Boyden: [email protected]
January 2017
January Volunteer Education
Personal Rituals: Ways of Increasing Compassion & Decreasing Burnout
Among Hospice Volunteers January 20, 10:00 —11:30 a.m. Lower Level Conference Room,
Hospice Admin Building Rituals are traditional or symbolic activities used to mark significant events—in our case, the death or loss of our patients. In this workshop we will explore ways in which rituals may help us honor our patients while providing us healthier coping skills with these frequent losses. Based on an NHPCO presentation created especially for hospice volunteers.
Please let Dianne know if you plan to come.
Report a Shining Star! Help us Evaluate your Peers!
New Hospice regulations require us to treat volunteers like staff and document all “supervisory contact” we have with you. In the community, when a volunteer is assigned a patient, the “contact” begins at assignment time and continues until the patient dies. Some time within the first 6
weeks of care, staff asks the patient/family how things are going with the volunteer. Their response is then documented on the Plan of Care in the volunteer’s electronic file and the patient’s medical record. However, a volunteer’s competency can also be “verified” by one’s peers. This could be especially helpful in the hospice house. So we thought, why not utilize the “Shining Star” program (already used in the hospital) to assist us with yearly evaluations? The program’s main purpose is to show appreciation of a co-worker who is great to work with or has done a fabulous job at something work-related. The peer’s comments are displayed on a bulletin board for everyone to see and the card is later given to the recipient. By recording these comments in the volunteer’s records, it could add a whole new dimension to our yearly feed back to volunteers. It sounded like a win-win for everyone!
The “Shining Star” cards are pretty self-explanatory, and you may remain anonymous if you prefer. We will keep a supply at the front desk of the hospice house as well as attach one with this and future newsletters. We appreciate your help and look forward to reading your Shining Stars! Please feel free to call us if you have any questions.
STRESS
A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audi-
ence, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this
glass of water?" Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.
The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It
depends on how long you try to hold it."
"If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for
an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day,
you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same
weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."
He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress manage-
ment. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as
the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to
carry on. As with the glass of water, you have to put it down
for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're re-
freshed, we can carry on with the burden. So, before you re-
turn home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry
it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens
you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can.
Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short.
Enjoy it!”
FLU SEASON HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY DECLARED. IF
YOU HAVE SIGNED A FLU DECLINATION FORM, YOU
WILL NEED TO EITHER WEAR A MASK IN ALL PATIENT
AREAS OR GO INACTIVE UNTIL FLU SEASON IS OVER.
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30-Second Connections: The following activities can be done in less than 30 seconds and can create conversations,
redirect a person, and calm fears: Ask the person to “show” you a particular object. Notice an unusual bird, cloud, tree, etc. outside the window. Give a hand massage. Give a sustained hug. Evoke a memory from the life story of the patient—”What was it like…?” or “Tell me more
about…” Notice vivid colors in a dress or shirt. Look at the different flowers in a flower arrangement. Share a little food treat. Bring photos of your family or share a pleasant personal memory from your life. Look at the person’s photo albums together.
Sometimes the best thing we can do with a conversation is make the person feel special. Consider the following “I Care” statements:
“You have such pleasant memories – I really enjoy listening to you.” “I don’t know how you do it, but you always make me laugh.” “That’s such an interesting story – I’ll be thinking about that a lot.” “I enjoy your company so much.” “Your smile makes my day.” “This is so relaxing, sitting here with you.” “That’s great advice – I’ll have to use that.”
AVOID asking questions or making comments like...
Is that a new sweater?
Do you know who I am?
What would you like to do?
What did you do today?
I already know how to do that.
You already told me that.
Who’s that sitting over there?
Are there any activities tonight?
No one stole your hairbrush!
I just explained that to you
INSTEAD say things like…
What a nice sweater!
Hi, I’m so glad to see you!
I’d like to play a game with you.
Tell me about your day…
That’s a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
That’s interesting! I didn’t know that.
That person looks nice – let’s go say hello!
Let’s find out what activities there are today.
I’m sorry your hairbrush is missing – let me look with you and if we don’t find it, I’ll get another one for you to use until it turns up.
May I show you? Or, let me show you.
Volunteers do not necessarily have the time;
they just have the heart.
—Elizabeth Andrew
May you always have walls for the winds A roof for the rain, tea beside the fire Laughter to cheer you, those you love near you And all your heart might desire. —Irish Blessing
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