Hospice an option for many families

AnneMarie Fromm Albemarle County
Published: July 25, 2008

I retired last year after 14 years as a home hospice nurse case manager. Since my retirement, I have been asked for advice from four different family members or friends regarding symptoms, choices and prognosis.

I was repeatedly disappointed by the lack of information and symptom management provided to these already stressed families by other medical practitioners. One family member even asked if hospice should be called and was told, “He doesn’t need hospice.” Our friend died the next day after severe difficulty breathing, which could have been alleviated if he had received palliative care and/or hospice had been consulted.

These situations did not occur locally but in supposedly prestigious hospitals in D.C. and New York.

I always considered it a blessing to work with dedicated physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, aides and volunteers in hospice and our local hospitals.

It is not an easy task to admit the futility of further treatment or repeated hospitalizations, but how many of us actually know we have other options?