What You Need To Know About Oklahoma Hospice Care

By Anna Sanders


The end of life is a difficult process for many. Instead of a peaceful passing, those dying, and their loved ones, experience pain, sadness, and discouragement. It is a time when people can feel most alone, but it is important to know that compassionate and understanding professionals are available whenever and wherever they are needed. Organizations like Oklahoma hospice care can make a loved one's last days easier and pain free.

There are questions about palliative care that are common to most cases. One of them regards the right time to discuss it with seniors. This subject is going to be uncomfortable for some family members, but it should be discussed well in advance of the actual need. This way the plans will have already been made when the loved one reaches the final stages of life. There is enough stress at this time without adding extra issues.

Hospice must be requested by someone in the family. Once a request has been made, the agency will process it promptly, usually with forty-eight hours. A meeting will be set up between an agency representative and the family members. If the situation is especially severe, the process can be initiated faster than the normal forty-eight hour time frame.

Patients will have a team working for and with them. The team usually includes at least one registered nurse, a social worker, a volunteer, a home health worker, and a chaplain. These professionals work with the individual and loved ones putting a plan in place that will fit the specific needs of the patient. The staff has a number of clients it has to divide its time between. Nurses will have at least a dozen patients. Social workers usually have a double workload.

Patients can suffer great pain when conditions reach the final stages. Hospice workers are trained to keep patients as free of pain and discomfort as possible. They work together with the patient's doctors to make sure they understand the therapies, procedures, and medications necessary to obtain the results desired. Workers continue to meet with doctors in order to keep up with any modifications or changes to the original treatments.

Hospice workers will go wherever there is need. A patient doesn't have to be in the hospital to receive this kind of help. The staff ministers to patients in nursing homes and other long term facilities. Palliative care workers have agreements in place with these institutions that allow them to enter the premise to work with their clients.

Sometimes the needs of the patient can become more than a family can provide for in a home setting. When this happens, there are freestanding hospice houses and residential centers that provide inpatient care. Neither Medicaid and Medicare will cover the cost of these options. Before the need, it is a good idea to discuss insurance options that might cover the cost if it becomes necessary.

The last of life is often difficult. It may be painful, messy and prolonged. There are resources available to help any family that requests it. Hospice is designed to make a difficult process more bearable.




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