Caring Opportunities: Refresh Yourself
This week has been full of challenges. While there can be moments when we feel overwhelmed, a better response is to know we can lean on God and for all things there is a plan for good.
“This too shall pass.” Somone once reminded me. Whether you are on top of the world or in great despair the words are true. The days of celebration and sadness will both pass away.
There are a lot of regular days and a lot of vacation days. We know summer is here because many team members with children have been waiting to take their families on vacation. It is always an opportunity to stretch and learn when we cover for others.
Our Palliative team and Clinical Response team have been working without a full staff for a season while we awaited our new associates’ arrivals. When a Branch has a growth surge, it can take a minute to catch up. Whether team members have had to stretch to cover for vacations or growth, rest assured we want them to have a turn to have a break as well.
It seems that people need us more than ever and it is good to be selective in our hiring to find service oriented and professional care team members. Even when we are stretched, it is important to remember that we don’t get a second chance to be present in how we Care, Connect, Ask, and Affirm our team members and those we serve. We will all be required to “Go the extra mile” on occasion. Often those we serve feel alone and uncertain. Our presence and timely attention are reassuring.
People need us more than ever and our after-hours support covers 128 hours a week. We have local, on-call rapid response Nurses and Goals of Care experts, our growth team, ready to meet with patients over weekends as well. We have seen our call volume grow by 21% after-hours over this time last year. While we are serving more Hospice and Palliative patients, it also seems like people need more reassurance and support than ever.
Many thanks to our staff who covered for someone, came in an extra day, made an extra visit, or completed an after-hours visit. When you make plans for your next break, we will be ready to do our best to let you refresh yourself.
