Duke Hospice Volunteers
Caring for our patients, their loved ones, and each other
Duke Hospice Volunteer Newsletter
October 2013
October 26 is National Make A Difference Day, an event sponsored by Points of Light and USA WEEKEND to focus attention on projects in that link volunteers with local needs. It is clear that our hospice volunteers make a difference every day in projects large and small far beyond the needs of our hospice patients. We would love to learn about all the ways YOU contribute to our community and make a difference every day. Are you serving meals to the homeless or fostering abandoned pets? Protecting children through the Guardian Ad Litem program or elders through local parks and rec departments? Gathering day-old bread from bakeries and moving them to soup kitchens as a modern-day gleaner? Tell us who you work for, what you do, and why you do it? We’d like to pass along the good news about the ways you make a difference.
Make A Difference at Duke HomeCare & Hospice:
Ø Our new Volunteer Coordinator, Laura Kujawski, is already making a big difference in the way our program office operates and if you missed the Meet and Greet on September 27th, please stop by some morning to say hello. Laura is coordinating the volunteer / patient matches for our home care and PARTners programs, and is attending the Partners and North IDT meetings for patients who have volunteers. We’d also like to give a big shout-out to Andy Wheeler, an administrative volunteer who has been hauling our computer files out of the dark ages and into 2013.
Ø Patient / family support volunteer training will be offered the weekend of October 11-13 at the Durham office. If you know of people who would be a good fit at the bedside, please encourage them to contact Carolyn. We know that this work isn’t for everyone but one of our best recruiting sources is volunteers who are already doing the tough but loving work that Duke Hospice volunteers do. We are looking for experienced volunteers to participate in a volunteer panel on Sunday afternoon, October 13. Any current volunteers who would like to sit in on one or more sessions are welcome. Just let Carolyn know you plan to attend.
Ø As you probably know, DHCH runs on paperwork. Behind every admission, discharge, test, prescription, patient visit, and equipment request is a flow of paper that eventually comes back to the office. Many of these pieces of paper are organized into packets and delivered to our patients at their admission visit. Lacking house elves or minions, Duke Hospice relies on a group of dedicated volunteers to sort, collate, and stuff packets almost every month of the year. Our next Admission Packet Assembly (aka PAPER SLAM!) workday will be Saturday, October 26, from 9 a.m. - noon at the Durham office. This is a high impact, low investment project that is crucial to the smooth operation of the organization. Call Carolyn if you would like to participate.
Ø Did you know that Duke Hospice volunteers staff the front desk at the Hock Family Pavilion 12 hours a day, 365 days a year? That’s 4380 hours. At 4 hours per shift, that’s 1095 shifts. Volunteer Ambassador / receptionists are the face of hospice and make our visitors welcome at HFP. We have a significant need for additional volunteers for all shifts (morning, afternoon and evening, both weekdays and weekends). If you or anyone you know can help us recruit interested prospective volunteers, please contact Carolyn. We would love to talk to groups whose members might be interested in learning more: faith community groups, service groups, family groups, you name it. We plan to offer a short, volunteer training session in early October and a new cadre of fresh, committed people would be a big help to our loyal veteran ambassadors. Give Carolyn a call if you know of a group that would welcome an informative talk about this work or if you would like to try it out.
Ø Two Duke University undergraduates are working on a Service Learning Project at Hock Family Pavilion for a class in Death and Dying. Part of their project involves cataloging the CD collection of music and helping to convert it to more portable formats to allow patients easier access to the music. If you have CDs that you think would provide the gift of music to our patients that you would like to donate to this project, please contact Carolyn.
Ø All our DHCH (hospice, infusion, home health care, and bereavement) programs value the volunteer support they receive and we have many requests for additional weekday clerical support at the Durham office These positions do not require the full patient / family training so you can start right away. If you have time to make a regular weekly commitment, please consider this important need and call Carolyn.
If something is needling you ….
Ø Hospice Quilting Bee: If you have crafty hands or would like to learn some new skills or use your quilting skills for a rewarding project, please give Sue Blancato a call at 919-638-1738 or send a note to . Sue and the quilting group plan to meet monthly to work on quilting projects to benefit Duke Hospice and would love to have you join them. They also welcome donations of quilting fabric to be used in the quilts they create.
Ø Duke Hospice Care Shawl Meeting, Thursday October 24, 7 p.m. at Chapel Hill Bible Church. If you like to knit or crochet or want to learn, please consider joining us. Contact Helen Cooper, Duke Hospice knitter extraordinaire, for information or support at .
o In our most recent Press Ganey survey, a family member wrote the following comments: “Words are so inadequate to express how thankful I am for all you have done. I appreciate everything so much. I use the shawl we were given constantly- can’t explain why, but it is so very comforting as I grieve the loss of my loved one. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart.” All our volunteers truly make a difference in all that they do.
o Carol Younkin has set up a "Friends of Duke Hospice" group on Ravelry.com, a free knitting community for those who love fiber arts. You can join and see the projects made by the group, ask questions, find patterns, check the dates of meetings, and much more. Another avenue for inspiration of all kinds.
Continuing education opportunities for staff and volunteers:
· DHCH is offering a Diversity Breakfast on October 17 from 8:30-10 at Durham Office (presentation from 8:30-9:30 followed by a volunteer discussion following led by Laura Kujawski). The current topic is “Multi generations working together at DHCH”. If you have been bewildered or irritated by why young people / older people do what they do in the workplace (show their tattoos, wire their heads into little machines with no buttons, email when they could be more efficient texting, collect money for baby showers when they could be working with an online registry and PayPal), RSVP to Laura.
· North Carolina has the fastest growing Latino population in the country. Really! Carolina Outreach offers “Cultural Considerations in Working with Latino Clients and Families,” Friday, October 25, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m., at the Carolina Outreach office, 2670 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd, Durham. This free workshop (with food!) will consider issues related to cultural diversity and working with people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. To register, contact Cherry Hitt at .
· DHCH Volunteer Book Club If you have read a book that you think would be of interest to other volunteers and would like to participate in a discussion, please let us know. We would love to host a volunteer book club if there is enough interest.
For your reading education / edification: “On Being a Hospice Volunteer and Now a Patient,” Newsline, monthly publication of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. Carolyn Crank was the very first volunteer of FHN Hospice, based in Freeport, IL. She continued to work in this role for nearly 18 years, until a diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer put her on the other side of the equation. http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nhpco/newsline_201308/#/12
Each month we offer a Monthly Moment of Remembrance for Duke Hospice staff and volunteers. This monthly event is an opportunity to pause to reflect on the patients who have died on service in the previous few weeks or months. Surrounded by men and women who uniquely understand your experience, you will find this gathering recognition of your service and loss. You are cordially invited. Call Carolyn for more information.
Playmakers Repertory at UNC has announced their 2013/14 season and it’s a winner: Shakespeare, Noel Coward, Sondheim, and more. And just as exciting for us is that they are continuing their Spotlight on Service program that offers free and discounted tickets to volunteers of selected community organizations (including Duke Hospice!). If you’re a theater buff, you’ll want to be on Carolyn’s notification list so you will be alerted when / if tickets become available. The acting is first class and the productions are thought-provoking. The Mountaintop runs through October 16. The story of April 3, 1968. Memphis.
ÄReminders:
· If you’re feeling like a pincushion, we’d like to thank you for coming in early to get your flu shot. As you’ve heard, in an ongoing effort to protect our patients, their loved ones, and each other, Duke University Health System has updated the “Healthcare Worker Flu Vaccination Policy and Procedure.” Effective with this upcoming flu season all DUHS healthcare workers, including Hock, Meadowlands, bereavement, administrative, and patient / family support volunteers, are required to be vaccinated against the flu, unless you are exempt for medical or religious reasons. The complete policy can be found at http://marlowe.duhs.duke.edu/__852567910041C0C3.nsf/0/05C9ED24B1E8F05385257A070074D5B2?Open&Highlight=0,Influenza. The deadline for being vaccinated is Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. If you have questions or concerns about the change in this policy, please call Carolyn.
· The Joint Commission Triennial Survey team is due any day, and we want to be operating on all the cylinders: Submit your paperwork as soon as possible, remember the two patient identifiers (name and date of birth), practice great hand hygiene, always be mindful of patient confidentiality, make sure your volunteer badge is current, and wear it at all times when you are representing Duke Hospice—in the office, at the patient’s home, at the front desk at Hock or Meadowlands.
· Carolyn is still rounding: One step we are taking to ensure that our programs are responsive to your needs is called Volunteer Rounding, which starts with a one-on-one conversation with Carolyn to gather your impressions and experiences as a volunteer: How are things going? What’s going well? Where are your challenges and where do we have opportunities to make things better? Is there anyone you want to acknowledge for a job well done? Rounding is different than a supervisory visit: there is no score sheet, evaluation, or patient visit. This is all about you sharing your volunteer experience with Carolyn and the Duke Hospice Staff, telling the stories that don’t fit into visit notes. If you’d like to participate, contact Carolyn.
· Words that Work: The Words that Work program starts with the word RELATE, which in the context of patient care stands for Reassure, Explain, Listen, Answer, Take action, Express appreciation. The second step, Explaining, is about using clear and understandable terms to describe what you will be doing and why, how long it will take, while maintaining a balanced tone and pace, and asking for cooperation, if appropriate.
· Envelope alert: DHCH is no longer using the postage-paid business envelopes addressed to Duke Hospice PO Box 2997. If you have a supply of these envelopes, please destroy them and contact Carolyn for replacements.
A RESOURCE FOR YOU Continuing Education for October “Locked in the Vault—Survivor Guilt in Combat Veterans” by J. Scott Janssen, MSW, LCSW. While this article is directed to social workers, our volunteers will find it very useful.
We welcome your feedback on our continuing education pieces. Please contact Carolyn if you would like more information on a topic we cover in the newsletter or if you would like to suggest or write an article for a future newsletter.
For more information contact:
Carolyn Colsher, DHCH Volunteer Services Supervisor
(919) 479-0385 (phone) (919) 970-0227 (pager)
Laura Kujawksi, DHCH Volunteer Coordinator (919) 479-0377
Website: dhch.duhs.duke.edu
http://www.facebohttp://www.facebook.com/DukeHomeCareHospiceeCareHospice
“We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.”
---Marian Wright Edelman
And thank you, as always, for everything you do for our patients and families. Carolyn
Mission Statement: Duke HomeCare & Hospice will provide innovative, thoughtful care, using an interdisciplinary team approach, to achieve the best possible outcomes for the patients, families and communities we serve.
1