The month of November recognizes the millions of nurses, home care aides, therapists, and social workers who serve their community proudly. These individuals play an essential role in our healthcare system and homes across the nation. To recognize their hard work and show appreciation, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) asked to celebrate November as Home Care and Hospice Month. 

“Home care and hospice nurses, therapists, aides, and other providers who choose to use their lives to serve our country’s aged, disabled, and dying. This noble work deserves our recognition and praise, and we celebrate November as Home Care & Hospice Month for that very reason.”  – NAHC President William A. Dombi. 

Hospice care professionals are an important role to end-of-life care and individuals who are terminally ill. They focus on helping someone with a terminal illness comfortably and increasing their quality of life. Hospice is usually offered in the home or a long-term care facility. 

Some of their services include:

  • Managing patient’s pain and symptoms
  • Emotional support
  • Providing medical equipment like wheelchairs
  • Teaching caregivers on how to provide the best care
  • Dietary counseling
  • Grief and loss counseling for patient and loves ones

Along with providing the best care for patients, a huge part of their job is also supporting families. So, they help with education, emotional and spiritual support, financial issues, and assisting with the patient’s hygiene.

“Within the hospice care setting, the looming reality of a patient’s death can be extremely hard for both patients and family members to accept. During this time, many difficult decisions must be made regarding treatments that will benefit the patient in their last weeks or months, often bringing quality of life concerns into play. Nurses step in at this time to guide patients and families confronting those tough decisions and helping them adapt to painful realities,” says the American Nurses Association. 

At Next Day Access, we recognize the noble work done by hospice teams. This November, we are proud to honor the individuals in our healthcare system who help make differences in lives. We are thankful for those who continue to work and study hard to help the community.  

Source: https://www.nahc.org/