Hospice is an odd choice for a career. People think we’re weird to work in a profession that deals with death every day. For us, that’s totally normal. People ask us, “Why do you work with dying people? Doesn’t it make you sad?“
Why do we work with dying people? I think a lot of end of life professionals ask themselves that every day. It’s not that it makes us sad exactly, but sometimes we grieve over our patients, the loss that their families feel, and our own inability to change so many of the things that happen to them.
Including the deaths.
Why would anybody do that? It’s not because of the regulations. It’s not because of the surveys or the site visitors. It’s not because of quality measures, HIS questions, compliance, or position statements. We don’t do this work because of our credentials, degrees, or certifications.
We work with the dying because we care. We care about what happens to people when they’re going through the intensely personal experience of a death, either their own or the death of someone they love.
Photo by Helen Bauer, The Heart of Hospice
It’s because we were made to walk with our patients on their journeys. They’re going to the place everybody goes to when his time comes to an end. We’re not scared of death. We can witness things nobody talks about at parties, and keep right on moving.
It’s not that working with the dying doesn’t affect us. We grieve but we don’t show it. We cry but we wash our faces so we can be with the next family, the next patient. We counsel, comfort, embrace, teach, and guide.
Hospice professionals show up for the next death, and the next, knowing that they make a difference. They have skills and gifts and they’re willing to use them.
Social workers. Chaplains. Nurse practitioners. Aides. Doctors. Nurses. Music therapists. Aromatherapists. Massage and pet therapists. Physical therapists and dietitians.
If you work as a hospice professional, today is a good day to remind yourself of why you do what you do. November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month. You can count yourself among thousands of dedicated professionals who come alongside seriously ill patients and their families to provide care at the most fragile time of their lives.
Keep doing the good work. Remember your why.
No matter who you are, or where you are on your hospice journey, you are The Heart of Hospice.