Dulcina Hospice team

80 part-time and casual health care aides. licensed practical nurses, registered nurses, volunteers, social workers, chaplain, administrative assistants, physicians

Dulcina Hospice is as much about life as it is about death. The team’s focus is on doing things to make someone’s life better. The team strives to support residents' wishes, for example seeing home again (even with virtual reality glasses) or spending some time with animals like miniature horses or dogs.

Health care aides on the team are the first to answer the call bell to be with someone so they are not alone. They bring smiles to their interactions, sing songs or nod when there are no words. The medical team strives to achieve the best symptom management so a resident can have the best last visit with someone.

The team supports families where they are even if that means doing things that are not typical in a hospice. One daughter was overwhelmed with fear of doing something wrong for her mom who was dying. They changed her mom’s goals of care from comfort to medical to give the daughter the peace of knowing she could explore all options for her mom. Another family asked to hold onto hope which included having the resident continue with chemotherapy which is very unusual in hospice. They also wanted to send the resident for another CT scan if there was any improvement. The resident passed away peacefully without returning to acute care. The resident’s son shared how thankful he was for the team supporting his family as they struggled through letting his mom go.