It’s Not Just About the Numbers

In the hospice industry there’s a lot of focus on numbers. The scores on our satisfaction surveys, how many patients on our census, the number of patients in a case load, how many patients were seen in a day.

We even focus on numbers when a patient is dying. Measure a pulse ox for the status of his breathing. Check a blood pressure, a heart rate, the score for declining functional abilities during the dying process. How many times did the nurse and social worker see a patient in the last week of his life? And how many hours did they spend in the home?

We count benefit periods, intervals for supervisory visits and interdisciplinary meetings, visit frequencies, days since the date of admission to hospice. It’s easy to be all about the numbers.

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Some of that maintenance is necessary. It’s required by the federal or state government, or our professional licensing boards. A lot of the numbers are required just so that hospice agencies can survive financially and ensure their employees are productive. Numeric values help sites stay afloat and stay compliant.

But it’s not all about the numbers. It can’t be all about the numbers.

Every caseload for a social worker, chaplain, nurse, or aide is a group of people that need our help. The census of an agency is part of your community you serve, seriously ill people and their families who need the special skills that only end of life professionals possess. They’re your neighbors and your friends. And those satisfaction surveys? They’re just a snapshot of the care you’re providing.

Those vital signs you’re checking as the patient is dying, even the ones you know won’t register on your instruments? They’re only a small part of the big picture of death. The time a end of life professional spends on clinical tasks often consumes moments when family and friends should be at the bedside. Yes, those numbers are indicators of where the patient is in the dying process, but the experience has to be more than that.

Here are some numbers you can track and trend. How many times did you hug an isolated caregiver this week? Track all the occurrences where your team provided expertise that calmed a terrified patient in the middle of the night. How often did a coworker listen to you share your experience at a hard death? Calculate the times you’ve cried with a patient, or cried over a patient. Add up the times you’ve held a hand that no longer feels your touch. What’s the real sum of the care you’re providing?

Now those are some numbers worth talking about.

No matter who you are, or where you are in your hospice journey, you are The Heart of Hospice.

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