Hospice Care Nursing: Interview with Mrs Tina Attil

Introduction

There are various speciality areas for nursing which offer care to various vulnerable groups. For this task, a hospice care nurse was selected and interviewed. Hospice nurses are specialists care nurse who aids the terminally ill patients. The terminally ill patient is one that is suffering from an incurable disease and whose probability of dying is high. They are specially trained to address the emotional and physical needs of a terminally ill patient (Ribeiroa et al., 2017). Mrs Tina Attilla was our interviewed hospice care nurse who gave us her insights as well as helps us understand her speciality area more. Below is her response towards some questions we asked her:

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Why did you choose this speciality?

I developed a liking of this speciality area when I once visited a friend in a hospital. The friend was suffering from throat cancer which she had been struggling with for the past five months. I saw the pain that she was enduring together with other terminally ill patients, and I felt I needed to do something with my life to help such kind of people. Such patients require some care which will help improve the quality of life they live till death succumb them. I felt they needed some emotional and physical help which will help them die a happy person. Showing love and care to such a hopeless soul enable them to live even longer almost the same length as other patients in the hospital. Besides, I felt the burden to help those families or patients who find it expensive to be in a hospital due to the high medical bills. A hospice specialist may operate from homes, nursing homes or hospitals, implying that their services are very affordable. Patients thus have less healthcare expenditure. Therefore, with all that, I decided to pursue nursing specifically in hospice which I felt matched my life expectations.

How long have you worked in this particular field?

I have been working in the hospice field for the past six years. After completing my master’s degree in nursing, I was taken at a city hospital as an ER nurse, where I worked for one year from 2014 to 2015. I found a new job at Sibley Hospital, where I worked in the intensive care unit for the next three years. While working in the ICU, I could feel the pain that patients were undergoing and how some were getting neglected by their family members due to their illness. I felt I needed to quit and join associations for patient care. Luckily, I came across the crossroads palliative and hospice unique care association which I became part of. I have been serving with the crossroads hospice and palliative care for the last two years, where we have been visiting families and the neglected patients. We continue to offer hope to the terminally ill patients by showing them that their lives matter.

What special training/certification does it require?

According to Attila, there are several steps that one need to take to become a hospice nurse care. Firstly, an individual needs to attain a BSN (Bachelor of Science in nursing) or ASN (Associate of Science degree in nursing) training (Ribeiroa et al., 2017). Secondly, a person needs to sit for the NCLEX-RN exam and pass the exam. After passing the exam, the other requirement is for one to gain some experience training in acute care like in the ICU. There is also a certification exam for all Palliative and hospice nurses, which they should have a pass to be accredited (Ribeiroa et al., 2017). After been accredited, one can now find a job in any care facilities.

What prompted you to become a nurse?

According to Attila, the primary reason that drove her to become a nurse is the urge that is deep down her to help the vulnerable people. Having witnessed her friend suffer and succumb to cancer saddened her. She felt she needed to offer hope by aiding the patient emotionally and physically. Her joy is to see others happy. Helping an individual live their final life to the fullest is her joy. Interacting with my friend also made me realize the pain and regrets some of the patients suffer in their beds as the reality of death hits them. Interacting with dying patients help them appreciate life. Being the person to help another live peacefully and comfortably encouraged her to pursuing her dreams. Yet another reason is that some families remain in denial of the loss of their loved ones. Helping the family go through the denial phase by offering hope and peace too pushed her to nurse. She failed to like how society treated terminally ill patients. They isolated them and never showed them love especially those from deprived backgrounds. Attila was also motivated by the desire she had of changing her community. She wanted the community to realize that these kinds of patients needed love more than never. According to Attila, many terminally ill patients tend to lose their faith in God and wonder why He has forsaken them. Her decision of becoming a nurse was to help such patients to retain their spiritual faith and know that whatever is happening to them is not an indication that God does not love them but instead they should trust Him more.

What are your biggest job motivators?

According to Attila, various things motivate her in the hospice job. Firstly, she gets motivated by her passion for caring for the patients and their families. Seeing that the care makes a difference in another person's life makes her strive in the job even more. Secondly, the growing demand for nurses also is another job motivator as she understands that there are many job opportunities. The job also has endless opportunities for learning as one interact daily with different kind of patients and families. Facing different patients with different life problems sharpens her interpersonal skills.

How do you try to create a great patient experience with all you come in contact with?

According to Attila, she tries to create a great experience with each patient she comes in contact with by establishing a friendly relationship with them. Also, by making her visit feel and look engaging. Patients feel cared for when the nurse engages them in their conversation. They are also motivated to share with them all that is troubling them (Barnett et al., 2019). Another way is through paying attention to whatever they say and treating them with respect. Also, she stated that according to her, communication is the key. She tries to take each patient's question seriously and try to provide answers to them. Attila also joins the family in performing some home chores, which make them establish a healthy relationship.

Would you recommend this speciality to someone else?

Yes, I would much recommend Attila to others. She is caring and has excellent interpersonal skills while interacting with patients. She has empathy and treats all patients and their families with respect. She pays attention to all the patients’ details and answers all their questions with moderations and in a manner that patients find helpful.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are various things that we learnt from interacting with Attila. Firstly, we learnt that nurses are people who play a significant role in a patient's life. Hospice care nurse plays the most challenging roles since they try to give hope to patients who are about to die. Convincing a patient to live a quality life at their end of life is one challenging task to do. However, with determination and a positive mind, all becomes very easy and manageable.

References

Barnett, M. D., Moore, J. M., & Garza, C. J. (2019). Meaning in life and selfesteem help hospice nurses withstand prolonged exposure to death. Journal of nursing management, 27(4), 775-780. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jonm.12737

Ribeiroa, M., Borgesa, M., Ruanaa, T., Bottinia, M. E., & Souzaa, M. (2017). Palliative Care & Hospice Nursing. J Palliat Care, 7(3). https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mariana_Ribeiro34/publication/329170414_Analyzing_the_movie_my_life_under_the_perspective_of_the_Kubler-Ross/links/5bf9961992851ced67d4a82e/Analyzing-the-movie-my-life-under-the-perspective-of-the-Kuebler-Ross.pdf