Our Care | Beyond Hospice

Transitioning From This Life

to What's Beyond

You are not alone. Our hospice team will walk this journey with you and those you love, including with bereavement services for over one year after death.

Our care.

Everyone is unique. At Beyond Hospice our compassionate care is tailored to what you define as most important, respecting the dignity of every human being.

Hospice nurses are responsible for monitoring your physical health and well-being by taking vital signs, performing assessments, and talking to the doctor about changes happening or medication needs. Hospice nurses will help with managing symptoms such as pain, difficulty breathing, anxiety, and nausea. The nurse will do their best to keep you informed by answering questions and helping you understand what’s happening and what to expect. Nurses will teach you and your caregivers how to manage medications and how to use different care techniques to maximize your comfort and safety.

Hospice health aides provide support for personal care such as bathing, dressing, nail care, oral hygiene, changing linens and tidying up to keep your living space safe and clean. They ensure patients are comfortable and report deviations from their usual physical and mental conditions to the supervising RN case manager. Aides offer companionship and emotional support to patients and their loved ones, spending time talking and listening to stories.

Bereavement services are provided to hospice patients and families throughout the hospice journey and follow you for up to 13 months. Grief is different for everyone. Bereavement care is individualized to you and assists with identifying your strengths and stressors when dealing with a loss. Bereavement care will help you in identifying resources and adaptations that will be the most beneficial to you and your family.

Grief Resources

Hospice social workers provide a wide range of supports, based on the specific needs of you and your loved ones. They advocate, educate, listen, and connect you to resources. Social workers are available to help with:

Counseling and care planning
Establishing end of life goals (What is most important to you?)
Assist with legal documents (e.g., Advance Directives, Financial and Healthcare POAs)
Community resources (e.g., alternative living arrangements, meals, lifeline)
Preparation and planning for steps that need to be taken following a death
Provide resources or support for your loved ones

Facing the end of life can bring up some big questions - What’s the meaning of life? What happens when we die?

Every spiritual tradition has wisdom to bring to the discussion of these big questions. You

may have a faith life that is important to you, rituals and stories that inform your living and can inform your dying. Maybe you have questions, doubts, or wounds from organized religion. Maybe you have no faith tradition at all.

The intent of the spiritual care team at Beyond Hospice is not to provide definitive answers. or try to convince you of anything. Everyone’s story is their own, and if you choose to meet with a member of our spiritual care team, you will find someone that will sit with you and listen. You will find someone who isn't afraid to talk about death and dying, someone who knows the important questions to ask and might help you find some peace at the end of your life. We can pray with you, or provide rituals or sacraments that might be helpful in finding forgiveness, expressing love, and resting in faith as you have come to understand it.

It is our intention to have chaplains available to you from the Christian traditions, representing Roman Catholics, mainline Protestants, and Evangelical traditions. Our spiritual care team will soon grow to also include Muslims, Jews, First Nations elders, and shamans. We are fluent in Spiritual But Not Religious, and No Religion At All. If you choose to welcome someone from the spiritual care team, we are here to meet you where you are.