FEATURE:  May 5, 2010  

 

Delaware Hospice honors hospice nurses on the occasion of National Nurses Recognition Week with reflections of Sharon Allgor RN, CHPN
By Beverly Crowl

 

All nurses deserve recognition for National Nurses Recognition Week, May 6-12th, and Delaware Hospice joins other healthcare organizations in taking this opportunity to honor those special individuals who have chosen “Hospice Nursing” as a career.

 

Sharon Allgor, RN, CHPN, of Dover, Delaware, has been a nurse for Delaware Hospice for fifteen years.  Born and raised in North Dakota, Sharon attended the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpetown, North Dakota, and Delaware Technical and Community College’s Terry Campus in Dover for her nurse’s training.

 

She chose to become a nurse with the encouragement of her husband:  “He’d been in a car accident and I was caring for him at home.  He told me I’d made a good nurse, and he’d be willing to support me through a nursing education.”

 

Working for several years in various hospitals and departments gave Sharon an excellent background for her move to hospice work.

 

She recalled, “I was in the Intermediate Care Unit at Kent General when I met Patricia Velvel.    When Pat left the IMC Unit to work fulltime for

Delaware Hospice, she persuaded me to do the same, telling me she found this type of care to be very special and rewarding.  She was right—fifteen years later, we’re both still here!”

 

Sharon explained what makes hospice nursing different.  “We focus on the end stage of life, on patients with limited life expectancy.  Our main goals are patient comfort and education to the family and to the public about the services we provide. “

 

She emphasized, “Our team approach is truly a team approach.  If you have an issue with a patient, you are going to call your social worker or chaplain as well as your team leader to discuss it.  If I have a new patient and situation where there might be complications, I’ll take a social worker along for a joint visit; for example, a patient might be quite young, have multiple symptoms, or have young children.”

 

In hospitals, nurses report symptoms such as low blood pressure to physicians immediately, who then decide what intervention is appropriate.  Sharon said, “As a hospice nurse, if you visit a patient in their home environment and find a significant change in a condition, you evaluate, trouble-shoot, and assess medications on your own, before contacting the physician.  That is, most doctors expect us to make recommendations and just say what we need rather than give them the whole scenario and drop it in their laps.”

 

A hospital background and in-patient experience is beneficial, Sharon believes, “Because you have those evaluation and assessment skills already in place and you know what treatment that would have taken place if they’d been in a hospital.”

 

When Sharon visits a patient, the first thing she asks is, “What’s most important for you today?”  She said, “If you work on that issue first, the rest falls into place.  That important thing of the day can be absolutely anything—pain control, the need for respite, a trip to the hairdresser, or a manicure.  A hospice nurse’s role is incredibly diverse.  Besides checking the physical condition of your patient, you are constantly assessing, for example, the home situation—is the patient smoking?  Is there a risk for falling?  What other safety issues are there? 

 

“Patients are unpredictable and a hospice nurse needs to be flexible.  You can try to plan your day, but most likely you will get a call from someone who wants something resolved right here and now.  You learn to be careful how you schedule your visits so that you don’t leave one family waiting for you at a particular time.  I usually let them know I’ll be there sometime in the afternoon, then call half an hour before the visit to say I’m on my way.”

 

The rewards of hospice nursing come from knowing families and patients have been helped.  Sharon said, “On our family surveys, many families say that they wish they had had hospice sooner.  I think this is because we help them to adapt to the situation, and the more time spent with the patient and family allows us more time to build the relationships and trust needed to help them even more.”

 

As rewarding as it is to be allowed to care for a patient and family during this special time, it also has its challenges.  Sharon said, “I often have families get attached and find it difficult when the patient is gone, because they expect you to continue to call and talk to them.  This is nearly impossible when you have a full schedule of others to care for.”

 

Sharon feels her approach to hospice nursing was enhanced by unfortunately being on the receiving side:  “My mother-in-law was a patient, which gave me the chance to see how it feels to be the recipient rather than the provider of care.  It helped me become more sensitive to the finer points of what I say, how I say it, how I approach a family, and to think ‘what if I were in their shoes.’”

 

Hospice nurses are no different than others in needing to take care of themselves and find ways to relax and de-stress.  Sharon enjoys gardening and reading.  Her favorite hobby is attending birthday parties for her eight grandchildren!

 

Thanks to Sharon, and all nurses, for your special efforts in caring for Delaware’s patients and families.

 

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About Delaware Hospice
Since 1982, Delaware Hospice has provided exceptional care and support to nearly 35,000 patients and their families.  Its mission is to help each patient, each day, live the fullest, most comfortable life possible.  Delaware Hospice is the largest and only licensed, nonprofit, community-based hospice serving New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties in Delaware and southern Chester and Delaware counties in Pennsylvania.  For more information about Delaware Hospice’s programs and services, upcoming events, or employment opportunities, call 800-838-9800 or visit our website, www.delawarehospice.org.

 

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Beverly Crowl, Public Relations Specialist
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