Life kills people. Disease and tumors and being 95 is what does it. Hospice keeps people comfortable during the end of life process so they don't die in pain, screaming in agony.
I’ll repeat a previous comment, that I think the local equivalent of hospice probably shortened my mother’s life by about 2 days. She was dying from cancer, in the very last stages with great pain. She was given a large dose of morphine, lost consciousness, and died less than 24 hours later. I was very glad that her end was peaceful and pain free. It’s certainly not my definition of ‘hospice killed her’.
I suspect that people who say this, are in denial about how close to the end their LO actually was, and blame the morphine not the illness. My dear mother wasn't going to recover from terminal cancer.
I have answered this before but I will repeat it as this seems to be a misconception. If Hospice kills people they did a rather poor job of it. My Husband was on Hospice for almost 3 years. During that time they had a Nurse come 1 time a week. A CNA came 2 sometimes 3 times a week. The Nurse would order all the medications, and if equipment was needed she would order that and it would be delivered and set up. The CNA would give him a shower, would make sure he was clean, dry and clean clothes. She would order supplies that would be delivered so I no longer had to buy briefs, wipes, gloves, cream, ointment, under pads. A Social Worker would check in once a month and if I wanted a visit by the Chaplain that would be arranged. I also had a Volunteer come a few times when I had to get out and did not have a caregiver. All in all I think the Alzheimer's and Vascular dementia did a much better job of "killing" him than Hospice did.
What I have found being a member of this forum is that those that feel hospice has hastened someones death are ill informed.
If your on Hospice its because it has been determined you will die in 6 months. Yes, people have lived longer on Hospice. When the Admitting Nurse is there to tell family what Hospice will do, there needs to be someone there who will hear what family doesn't.
Hospice is comfort care. If done in the home, the family pretty much does all the work. A Nurse will come in once a week to check on the client. She is also responsible in ordering Depends, Chuxs, medication and durable equipment like a hospital bed. She teaches the family how to administer the Morphine used for pain and ease of breathing. Anxiety happens with dying people so there will be meds for that. An aide will come in about 2 to 3x a week to bathe. This is when family may have some down time so see how long an aide can stay. There is also a 5 day respite.
Hospice does not starve clients. But, when the body starts to shut down, no food or drink are given because it does more harm than good. The body can no longer digest it. First sign is not being able to swallow.
The better informed you are, the better the experience will be. The family is just as important as the client. The nurse should be available by phone 24/7.
Well said, JoAnn. My MIL has been here in our home on hospice Since last November. the nurses and aides do exactly what you state above. They have also taken her off most meds except for a heart med and a blood pressure patch. I am grateful to God that we have hospice for many reasons. We are not at the point of needing any meds to address pain or agitation, but hospice has provided them for us if/when we do. They are our lifeline in case we have questions or should there be an urgent medical need that arises (We have trained ourselves to call them instead of 911 ...their number is on our fridge.)
No, hospice allows people to die as pain free and comfortable as possible. And to me that doesn't sound like "killing" but instead comfort care. My late husband was under hospice care in our home the last 22 months of his life and died because of his vascular dementia, sepsis and septic shock among other things, but not because of hospice. We occasionally get posts questioning hospice care, but it's usually from folks who are in shock over losing a loved one and haven't had the proper time to grieve or process their loved ones death. If that is you, I hope and pray that in time you'll come to understand the purpose of hospice and appreciate that your loved on no longer is suffering.
Sure seems like hospice killing people would ruin their business, if they kill all their patients who would their business come from? How ludicrous! Of course hospice patients die! It’s defined as end of life care. The patients die as they have terminal or extremely life limiting illnesses. Hospice helps them to be comfortable and have supplies, aid, guidance, and medication to ease the stress of the last times. It was a gift to our family and I remain grateful
I find that people who interfere with hospice medications are only thinking about themselves rather than providing pain free care. Some family withhold medications and do not think about the pain the people suffer. The patient makes the decision to stop care. So please honor it and spend time with your loved one as if it is the last visit. End on good terms.
OP hasn’t given any details or story in the original question (just the headline), has made no further reply to any of these comments, has never posted anywhere else on this forum, and has no profile.
It’s quite possible it’s just a minimalist poster, we see plenty of those, but given the inflammatory topic….I have to wonder if OP is winding us up. Sorry if this is a legitimate question, but if so, please let us know more so we can help.
No. Of course not. It is illegal to kill people in this country. The truth is, however, that when people subscribe to this conspiracy theory it is almost impossible to change their minds. This is true of all conspiracy theorists.
Do try to open your mind wide and seek all the education you can regarding end of life care. I wish you the best.
Reporting to request review from admins. This seems to be a poster who began posting on Saturday, and who may be creating duplicates in order to attack Hospice care. Hoping for removal to discussions or checking on new poster's credentials. Self-reporting my post.
I see the admins removed my responses to the post and the commentators.
I was contracted out by two care companies I worked for in the past to the hospice at home program. They are useless in the homecare setting. A hospice facility is entirely different. I have experience hospice homecare not facility.
To be honest, they usually made things worse in the home. A nurse came twice a week for a few minutes and dropped off a lot of controlled substances. I'd say based on what I say that about 80% of the clients I had didn't even need these people or their drugs. They were old and the families agreed to it because insurance pays for it. Families get talked into it when there's an elder in the home. Even when they don't really have very serious health issues.
The cases who were home and in real need of it didn't get much. They don't provide sitters to stay with the person for hours at a time so the family caregivers can get some respite, like a night's sleep for example. They also provided zero education to the family caregivers about the serious drugs they drop off and insist the elder be given. One day the patient doesn't need anything more than a Tylenol for pain or a little lorazepam to calm down. Hospice shows up the next day and there's a sudden need for morphine, Oxycontin, Vicodin, and huge doses of klonipin, halidol, and anti-psychotics?
I personally saw this happen many times when they come into the home and I will say so. I would not recommend hospice at home.
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I suspect that people who say this, are in denial about how close to the end their LO actually was, and blame the morphine not the illness. My dear mother wasn't going to recover from terminal cancer.
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If Hospice kills people they did a rather poor job of it.
My Husband was on Hospice for almost 3 years.
During that time they had a Nurse come 1 time a week. A CNA came 2 sometimes 3 times a week. The Nurse would order all the medications, and if equipment was needed she would order that and it would be delivered and set up. The CNA would give him a shower, would make sure he was clean, dry and clean clothes. She would order supplies that would be delivered so I no longer had to buy briefs, wipes, gloves, cream, ointment, under pads. A Social Worker would check in once a month and if I wanted a visit by the Chaplain that would be arranged. I also had a Volunteer come a few times when I had to get out and did not have a caregiver.
All in all I think the Alzheimer's and Vascular dementia did a much better job of "killing" him than Hospice did.
If your on Hospice its because it has been determined you will die in 6 months. Yes, people have lived longer on Hospice. When the Admitting Nurse is there to tell family what Hospice will do, there needs to be someone there who will hear what family doesn't.
Hospice is comfort care. If done in the home, the family pretty much does all the work. A Nurse will come in once a week to check on the client. She is also responsible in ordering Depends, Chuxs, medication and durable equipment like a hospital bed. She teaches the family how to administer the Morphine used for pain and ease of breathing. Anxiety happens with dying people so there will be meds for that. An aide will come in about 2 to 3x a week to bathe. This is when family may have some down time so see how long an aide can stay. There is also a 5 day respite.
Hospice does not starve clients. But, when the body starts to shut down, no food or drink are given because it does more harm than good. The body can no longer digest it. First sign is not being able to swallow.
The better informed you are, the better the experience will be. The family is just as important as the client. The nurse should be available by phone 24/7.
My late husband was under hospice care in our home the last 22 months of his life and died because of his vascular dementia, sepsis and septic shock among other things, but not because of hospice.
We occasionally get posts questioning hospice care, but it's usually from folks who are in shock over losing a loved one and haven't had the proper time to grieve or process their loved ones death.
If that is you, I hope and pray that in time you'll come to understand the purpose of hospice and appreciate that your loved on no longer is suffering.
It’s quite possible it’s just a minimalist poster, we see plenty of those, but given the inflammatory topic….I have to wonder if OP is winding us up. Sorry if this is a legitimate question, but if so, please let us know more so we can help.
The truth is, however, that when people subscribe to this conspiracy theory it is almost impossible to change their minds. This is true of all conspiracy theorists.
Do try to open your mind wide and seek all the education you can regarding end of life care. I wish you the best.
This seems to be a poster who began posting on Saturday, and who may be creating duplicates in order to attack Hospice care.
Hoping for removal to discussions or checking on new poster's credentials.
Self-reporting my post.
I see the admins removed my responses to the post and the commentators.
I was contracted out by two care companies I worked for in the past to the hospice at home program. They are useless in the homecare setting. A hospice facility is entirely different. I have experience hospice homecare not facility.
To be honest, they usually made things worse in the home. A nurse came twice a week for a few minutes and dropped off a lot of controlled substances. I'd say based on what I say that about 80% of the clients I had didn't even need these people or their drugs. They were old and the families agreed to it because insurance pays for it. Families get talked into it when there's an elder in the home. Even when they don't really have very serious health issues.
The cases who were home and in real need of it didn't get much. They don't provide sitters to stay with the person for hours at a time so the family caregivers can get some respite, like a night's sleep for example. They also provided zero education to the family caregivers about the serious drugs they drop off and insist the elder be given. One day the patient doesn't need anything more than a Tylenol for pain or a little lorazepam to calm down. Hospice shows up the next day and there's a sudden need for morphine, Oxycontin, Vicodin, and huge doses of klonipin, halidol, and anti-psychotics?
I personally saw this happen many times when they come into the home and I will say so. I would not recommend hospice at home.