The first hospice volunteer training online podcast was
released over a year ago. It has taken me that long to prove to the world that this is not just another fly by night program, that quality and integrity are vital to my business in order to educate those who will be of service to hospice patients and families. Everything finally fell into place. Initially I read the final essays of those taking the course and was in awe of the "reasons" that people gave for taking the course. It looked like the program was making a significant difference in the lives of those wishing to become hospice volunteers. Next, I finally defined the benefit to hospices. I knew the benefits in my heart, but to hear the agencies who were utilizing the program for their initial volunteer training to really confirm that the program was on it's way to being a legitimate, service oriented program that would ultimately save hospices money and time while breathing new energy into their follow up training with those who had taken the course. So here it is 16 months after the original podcast and I am ready to update you on the status of the program.*There are approximately 30 agencies now using the online training.
Each agency has it's own personalized site for
training their volunteers with a personalized certificate of completion with the company's name and/or logo. The volunteer coordinator has administrative privileges and can monitor their volunteers' progress and add users and grade esssays. They can also save or print the certificates. For sites that only use the program every couple of months or so, they are put on one web page as a sponsoring agency. This page is not personalized with company logo, info, etc but is a generic listing with an enrollment key so the agency can approve/not approve the volunteers that wish to take the course. Unlike the personalized sites, the sponsoring agency site has a generic certificate issued. The volunteer coordinator has non-editing privileges and can only view their volunteers but not edit any information. Only 2 sites have utilized the option to create their own course for me to upload. That's really okay as I had to learn as well how to make the site flow easily with additional material. I discovered "inodes". The courses were so full of information and the individualized sites were full of pictures and slides that I got a notice from my web host that I had severely exceeded my inode limit. It sounded like a disease. That's when I re-introduced myself to back up plans. I now have 2 different web hosts so that at any time one site may go down or incur difficulties, in an emergency I can go to the other site and immediately (within hours) upload an agencies information so they can continue training with a minor web address change.
I got critiqued! It wasn't really pretty but it got me lots of business.
I apparently use "me" or "my" too much in some places and
appearances lean toward this being a program for rural areas only. The good news is that this program is being utilized in rural areas but just as much in heavily populated areas and college students are the prime target for participation. They know the computer, they want their resume to look really good by reflecting service training, and they are more than full of the energy it takes to be a great volunteer. Benefits I never promoted.I realized that all my agencies were getting my full attention to any obstacles, questions or training. I didn't know I was a coach and counselor but looks like that has played quite a role in this business when I talk to volunteer coordinators. I get to share ideas and then I get to receive some great ideas to share with others.I send blast messages on behalf of the agencies utilizing the course. In other words, if hospice a submits an ad on craigslist for "volunteers wanted" - if its sent to me I will send it to my mailing list and post to all my social media sites. There....I do use "my" and "me" too much! I have been accused of lowering the value of the course by not charging for the site set up and only charging $10 per volunteer. As I see more and more growth and a steady flow of active agencies providing training I have to agree. At some point I will begin charging for the site set up but for now I am just getting to the point where I can identify my ideal client and something still considered new in the volunteer training world has to complete it's cycle of confirmation. The site charges will happen, but just not right now. I want to be as fair as possible to those agencies who are struggling financially to at least be able to recruit and train a vast volunteer force. In my thought, the volunteer can make an agency successful if trained appropriately. Marketing, patient care, companionship, administrative duties, and the intention of love for service are invaluable.
Loving automation; Most of the programs run very well
without my assistance. The volunteer signs up for their user account and begins the course. The volunteer coordinator grades final essays and prints the certificate. In a perfect world I would have nothing else to do. But as life goes, challenges appear and I have learned that each one can be addressed to the satisfaction of the volunteer, the agency and yes even to myself.The service agreement is easily completed and emailed, the
billing is done monthly and sent by email, customers can pay by paypal, checck or money order. Volunteers can always call me or contact me by email for assistance and I send out regular messages regarding updates.
The most fun I have is congratulating the volunteer coordinator
on a job well done. When I see 10 new volunteers trained in a
month, I know that coordinator has put in lots of hours, blood, sweat and tears to make it happen. I want them to know I have noticed.It's been one of the most fulfilling years in my life. A
new business, a new grandson, and a motivation for creating the best product I possibly can to assist in an economical investment for hospice agencies and to enable in othersthe power of being of service.
Next time we will discuss how to set up your site for your
1. Getting administration to approve participation in the program
2. The service agreement
3. What's needed to get your site up and ready for training.
4. How to create a new user account and receive administrative privileges.
I would like to end with one of the stories that has gotten
the most attention this week on my blog posts. With Memorial Day being observed at the beginning of the week, the story was very appropriate.http://volunteertraining.posterous.com/cornerstone-salutes-honoring-us-veteransJoin me next time for "Setting Up Your Personalized Site".
Anyone interested in utilizing the hospice volunteer training online program can join in and ask questions. The number to call is (724) 444-7444 and the Call ID: 37502The live call is scheduled for Fridays at 12 noon.Ron Pruitt, from left, Kimberly Dunford, Charles Pruitt, Larry Pruitt and Jim Pruitt are children of Hershel Pruitt, a World War II veteran. Charles and his siblings got together with a volunteer and recorded what they knew about their dad's life. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune)The life of Hershell Pruitt was remembered in bits.
His five children each hold a piece. Last week, they gathered at the hospice to say goodbye to their 86-year-old father, a World War II veteran of the Pacific campaign, who passed away Friday after a bout with Alzheimer's disease.
But before he died, his family began putting those stories together to form the arc of a spectacularly full life.
There to preserve Pruitt's story on a digital recording was a volunteer from Silverado Hospice of Utah who interviewed the family, part of a new program to capture the details of terminal patients' lives. The recordings are then pressed onto CDs and given to surviving family members.
"Getting us all together, we each added a little piece to the story," said son Charles Pruitt, 46, of Salt Lake City. "Each of us in turn told a story, and we were engaged and just sitting on the edge of our seats. It was a different perspective on my father's life."
Since the Memory Catcher program started earlier this year at Silverado, a handful of volunteers have recorded the stories of terminal patients for about 15 families, said volunteer Eileen Allen, who interviewed the Pruitts for their father's history. It's a free service operated by Silverado Hospice of Utah.
"We did not do that with my father, and we should have done it," Allen said. Her father was a veteran of World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars. "That's why this program appealed to me when I was looking for an avenue to volunteer."
The Memory Catcher program was inspired by University of Utah English professor Meg Brady, who initiated an audio history program for terminal patients at the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
Brady helped train hospice volunteers in interviewing techniques. Preserving a loved's one voice is significant, said David Pascoe, the hospice center's chaplain. "And when they pass away, you've got this record -- not a written history, but
Mom or Dad's voice."(Upper left-hand corner) Hershell Pruitt on the U.S. Navy Destroyer where he served on during World War II. ( Photo courtesy of the Pruitt family)"We've been doing this for the last several months, and some of these stories are just amazing," Pascoe said. "Some are World War II vets who haven't told these stories before, and they tell these amazing tales of marching across Europe or through the beaches on D-Day."
Hershell Pruitt was reluctant to talk to his family about his war days. "He told us it was not something that he thought was pleasant conversation," Charles Pruitt said. "In fact, he had a very hard time watching any movie or television show that looked at war in any sort of light way. I remember watching 'M*A*S*H,' and he said, 'War is not funny, there was nothing funny about it.' "
But Pruitt, who served on a naval destroyer that once escorted Gen. Douglas MacArthur, occasionally would recount certain stories to his children.
"We all know sort of a few anecdotes," Charles Pruitt said. "He would mention someone he met in basic training in Hawaii, and he would tell small stories about people, and a little bit about places."
The siblings' two-hour recording session at the center proved to be emotional and exhausting. "At the end, we were just tired, but in a pleasant way," Charles Pruitt said. "It was in a way sort of cathartic."
And very much worth it, the son noted, because he and each of his siblings now have a CD that captures the essence and details of their father's incredible life that they can pass on to their children.
"This is something that's going to be in our family forever and will be very important to us," Charles Pruitt said. "I can imagine my daughter listening to it. I hope she'll treasure it and listen to it as often as she likes."
Preserving their voices
-->Catching memoriesFor information about the Silverado Hospice, call chaplain David Pascoe at 801-506-1500.
A little over a year ago, Smith, 74, endured multiple surgeries to connect three leads to a biventricular device in an attempt to stabilize his improperly beating heart.
Within four months, his world consisted of a large chair in a converted Florida room and his bed.
"I had a urinal, cane and oxygen," he said. "I had no quality of life."
He credits the focused individual care from the social, medical and volunteer staff of Hospice of Marion County for the turnaround that gave him back his life.
Earl and Veronica "Ronnie" Smith, his wife of 52 years, recently shared a crab cake dinner in Huntingtown, Md., with their "overjoyed" daughter, Linda Turner, 46.
The family was celebrating Earl's recovery as well as Turner's college graduation.
The trip to Maryland, and a recent trip to Daytona Beach allowing Earl to fly his beloved specialty kites, seemed unimaginable just months ago, when he and his family considered his death "imminent."
The hospital had discharged Earl with what the family said was end stage congestive heart failure.
"The cardiologist said to 'get his affairs in order,' " Ronnie Smith said.
"My heart function was less than 20 percent," Earl said.
He lost the desire to eat. His weight dropped from 300 to 164 pounds. He suffered a 30-pound fluid build-up in his body.
"He couldn't brush his teeth," Ronnie said, as she described her husband as an active man, Army veteran and antique car and kite buff.
Ronnie called Linda and asked her to come home; then she called the family priest.
"I made my peace with myself and Ronnie," Earl said.
The Rev. Bob Greaves, a neighbor and chaplain with Hospice of Marion County, suggested hospice care for Earl.
"I was angry and in denial, saying 'Why me?' " Earl said as he recalled warding off efforts to bring hospice caregivers to his home under the Transitions program.
And it wouldn't be his first encounter with hospice. He and Ronnie had hospice care in 1997 when their adopted son, Glenn, then 29, died of Ewing's carcinoma.
"I saw an ad about hospice and have volunteered (in Maryland and Florida) since 1980," Ronnie said, explaining that Earl also was a hospice volunteer in both states.
"Glenn said, 'No hospice, Mom, because then I'm sick,' " Ronnie said.
"I told Glenn, 'I need hospice,' " she said.
The visits allowed them more time with their son, a veteran of Navy intelligence operations, without concern for outside details.
"Earl didn't believe hospice care could help in his state," Greaves said as he described explaining to Earl that "the intense care of hospice is what he really needed."
Greaves described that care as a team effort involving physicians, chaplains, social workers and nurses.
"The hospice doctor came out and said, 'No wonder you can't live; you have too much medicine,' " Earl said. "He treated me like an old friend."
"Earl's healing is also attributed to the couple's faith," Greaves said.
Lila Ivey, Community Outreach Director with Hospice of Marion County, calls a case of great improvement such as Earl's a "revocation."
She recounted another revocation story of "terminal emphysema" patient Joey Weisbaum, 54, who "after a year on the program got so much stronger she qualified for surgery and now will probably outlive all of us."
Ivey stressed "the number one fact" is that anyone call make a referral to hospice, although most people wait for the doctor.
"Just make the phone call" and a nurse will visit and make an assessment, Ivey explained.
Transitions is a free community service available to anyone with a life-limiting illness, providing assistance with tasks like running errands, light food preparation and companionship before and after medical treatment, according to Lisa Varner of Hospice of Marion County.
Atwua Middleton, an 11-year employee, works with terminally ill patients.
"Sometimes I am the last word, the last prayer," Middleton said. "It's a ministry."
"Hospice is not really an end of life program," Turner said. "They are caretakers; they are angels."
Some combat veterans who have faced death in wartime are able to integrate their experiences into their lives and then become better equipped emotionally to cope with their own deaths. Many other veterans who had their lives traumatically changed suffer from social isolation, substance abuse and anxieties.
Yet for some veterans, the effects of combat may not surface until they are very sick and facing the end of life. Then they may experience anxiety, agitation and vivid memories connected to war experiences.
To honor veteran patients and their families by meeting their unique needs, Pat Lehotsky, CEO of Cornerstone Hospice and Palliative Care, Inc., recently announced a comprehensive, veterans' hospice program, Cornerstone SALUTES!
A Cornerstone team of professionals and volunteers has been specially trained in a program designed by national VA expert Deborah Grassman and patterned under VA guidelines.
Pat Ludemann, RN and Regional Team Manager at the Cornerstone Hospice operational center in Winter Haven emphasized that many veterans experience traumatic conditions that are present today, even several decades after participation in hostile engagements on behalf of their nation. Veteran patients have very specialized, individual needs that are not solely based on medical, emotional, physical, social and spiritual issues. Their specialized care plan also identifies and treats any differences that veteran patients experience at the end of life.
"Cornerstone SALUTES! celebrates and observes the service to our nation that our veteran patients have rendered, at home and abroad, while it provides Hospice care unique to military families," Lehotsky said.
The program includes a "pinning ceremony" where a Certificate of Appreciation and a special "Honored Veteran" pin are presented to a veteran patient either by a veteran Cornerstone Hospice staff member or a veteran volunteer.
According to Ms. Lehotsky, "There are two types of heroes in military families, those who serve and those who stay behind keeping the family together," Lehotsky said.
Therefore, honoring the families of veterans is an integral part of the overall effort of Cornerstone SALUTES!
A "Journey of Remembrance" tribute is being planned to honor veteran families. Also as part of the program, veterans' stories and/or legacies are being recorded by trained volunteers to submit to the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.
This Memorial weekend, a Hospice volunteer for military affairs and Vietnam-era U.S. Army veteran Ernie Ziglar, presented Certificates of Appreciation and the special pins to two Polk county veteran patients.
After presentation, Ziglar stood at attention and saluted retired Korean War U.S. Army veteran Eduardo Conde, 86, of Poinciana and also U.S. Army veteran Gary Irons, age 65, of Polk City during separate ceremonies at their homes.
"This recognition of my Army service has moved me and my family more than I can express with words," Irons said as he was decorated in the presence of his son Loen Irons and daughter Valerie Rhone.
Irons served as a mechanic in the U.S. Army from 1963 to 1966.
Polk County is home to 52,833 veterans. National statistics indicate that eighty-five percent of veterans do not receive care through the VA healthcare system and that most veterans die in the communities where they live.
Cornerstone SALUTES! support groups are held in coordination with other veteran support groups as a supplement to overall services. Networking with other veteran services will assist families in working together and joining in the fabric of veteran support throughout the community.
Since 1984, Cornerstone Hospice and Palliative Care, Inc., a not-for-profit community-based healthcare organization, has provided care and services to Central Florida residents and to American veterans experiencing life-limiting illnesses.
To learn more, call 863-291-5560 or toll-free 1-800-503-5756 in Polk County.
Some combat veterans who have faced death in wartime are able to integrate their experiences into their lives and then become better equipped emotionally to cope with their own deaths. Many other veterans who had their lives traumatically changed suffer from social isolation, substance abuse and anxieties.
Yet for some veterans, the effects of combat may not surface until they are very sick and facing the end of life. Then they may experience anxiety, agitation and vivid memories connected to war experiences.
To honor veteran patients and their families by meeting their unique needs, Pat Lehotsky, CEO of Cornerstone Hospice and Palliative Care, Inc., recently announced a comprehensive, veterans' hospice program, Cornerstone SALUTES!
A Cornerstone team of professionals and volunteers has been specially trained in a program designed by national VA expert Deborah Grassman and patterned under VA guidelines.
Pat Ludemann, RN and Regional Team Manager at the Cornerstone Hospice operational center in Winter Haven emphasized that many veterans experience traumatic conditions that are present today, even several decades after participation in hostile engagements on behalf of their nation. Veteran patients have very specialized, individual needs that are not solely based on medical, emotional, physical, social and spiritual issues. Their specialized care plan also identifies and treats any differences that veteran patients experience at the end of life.
"Cornerstone SALUTES! celebrates and observes the service to our nation that our veteran patients have rendered, at home and abroad, while it provides Hospice care unique to military families," Lehotsky said.
The program includes a "pinning ceremony" where a Certificate of Appreciation and a special "Honored Veteran" pin are presented to a veteran patient either by a veteran Cornerstone Hospice staff member or a veteran volunteer.
According to Ms. Lehotsky, "There are two types of heroes in military families, those who serve and those who stay behind keeping the family together," Lehotsky said.
Therefore, honoring the families of veterans is an integral part of the overall effort of Cornerstone SALUTES!
A "Journey of Remembrance" tribute is being planned to honor veteran families. Also as part of the program, veterans' stories and/or legacies are being recorded by trained volunteers to submit to the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.
This Memorial weekend, a Hospice volunteer for military affairs and Vietnam-era U.S. Army veteran Ernie Ziglar, presented Certificates of Appreciation and the special pins to two Polk county veteran patients.
After presentation, Ziglar stood at attention and saluted retired Korean War U.S. Army veteran Eduardo Conde, 86, of Poinciana and also U.S. Army veteran Gary Irons, age 65, of Polk City during separate ceremonies at their homes.
"This recognition of my Army service has moved me and my family more than I can express with words," Irons said as he was decorated in the presence of his son Loen Irons and daughter Valerie Rhone.
Irons served as a mechanic in the U.S. Army from 1963 to 1966.
Polk County is home to 52,833 veterans. National statistics indicate that eighty-five percent of veterans do not receive care through the VA healthcare system and that most veterans die in the communities where they live.
Cornerstone SALUTES! support groups are held in coordination with other veteran support groups as a supplement to overall services. Networking with other veteran services will assist families in working together and joining in the fabric of veteran support throughout the community.
Since 1984, Cornerstone Hospice and Palliative Care, Inc., a not-for-profit community-based healthcare organization, has provided care and services to Central Florida residents and to American veterans experiencing life-limiting illnesses.
To learn more, call 863-291-5560 or toll-free 1-800-503-5756 in Polk County.
The Mayor proclaims - hospice is good.
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