The Heart of Hospice Podcast

Help The Heart of Hospice share the love with healthcare workers to celebrate Valentine’s Day! Send a message of gratitude and encouragement to 3 of your favorite healthcare people during the week of Feb. 8-14.  The people who care for us, our families, and communities have worked harder than ever in the last year.  Show them how much you appreciate their service by sending a text or an email, giving them a call, or even writing a note.  When you send your message, post it on your social media along with #shareyourhealthcareheart.  Gratitude is one of the best ways to show you care about someone - and to give yourself some healthy self care at the same time.  We’re grateful for healthcare professionals and the loving care they provide every day!  To connect with The Heart of Hospice, check out theheartofhospice.com.  We never forget that your hospice journey is 24/7 - you are The Heart of Hospice!

Devin (D.S.) Moss brings a sense of reverence for life and a curiosity about death to his work as a chaplain. During a conversation with a Zen Master about Buddhist beliefs about the afterlife, the suggestion was made to him that he would make a good chaplain. Devin didn’t think he could do the work of spiritual care because of his humanist beliefs. He doesn’t believe in God. Turns out the Zen Master didn’t believe in God, either.

Despite a religious upbringing, Devin embraces nontheistic, or humanist, beliefs. His sense of exploration led him to attend seminary and become a chaplain. He has found great fullness and human connection in the work of a chaplain. After completing his CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) internship, Devin accepted a position to provide spiritual care for an inmate on death row in Oklahoma. He spent most of 2023 supporting convicted murderer Phillip Hancock. Their relationship culminated in Hancock’s death by execution in November of that year.

D.S. is also the host of the Memento Mori podcast, a show about spirituality and death he started before he became a chaplain. He’s continuing his exploration and questioning in a new podcast coming the end of summer, 2024. You can find him at mystartingpoint.life.

Connect with Devin (D.S.) Moss on IG or IG for Remember to Die.

Watch Devin’s talk at EndWell 2023 here.

Find all the resources that Barbara Karnes has to offer at bkbooks.com.

Purchase the End of Life Guideline Series Bundle here.

Read Barbara’s blog here.

Connect with Barbara Karnes on social media: Facebook Insta LinkedIn Twitter Pinterest YouTube

Order your copies of The Hospice Care Plan: A Plan to Comfort here, now available in English and Spanish!

Check out the free library of video tutorials from the creators of The Hospice Care Plan hospice nurses Nancy Heyerman and Brenda Kizzire here.

Read more about Nancy and Brenda and their mission to improve hospice care here.

Find Odonata Care on social media: Facebook YouTube IG TikTok

Hospice Navigation Services is here for you. If you have questions about hospice care or need to troubleshoot the care you’re already receiving, book a session with an expert Hospice Navigator at theheartofhospice.com.

Book podcast host Helen Bauer to speak at your event or conference by sending an email to [email protected].

Find more podcast episodes from The Heart of Hospice at The Heart of Hospice Podcast (theheartofhospice.com)

Certified Caregiver Consultant Elizabeth Miller is helping other caregivers figure out how to stay healthy while juggling caregiving responsibilities. Elizabeth describes herself as a life-long caregiver, a sandwich caregiver, as well as a hands-on and remote caregiver. During the years she spent caring for her parents, Elizabeth learned her own caregiving style. She’s a huge fan of proactive self care - don’t wait for the crisis to hit and the oxygen mask to drop. Elizabeth’s family pulled together to take care of her mom and dad, each of them contributing to the caregiving according to their strengths. She knows the value of caregiving support by employers as well and speaks to companies often about the impact of caregiving on their workforce. It takes intention to be a great employee and be a great caregiver - and be happy and healthy as well. Nobody knows that better than Elizabeth Miller.

Connect with Elizabeth Miller’s caregiving consulting services here.

Listen to the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast here.

Find more information about hospice philosophy, end of life care, and self care for both personal and professional caregivers here.

Connect with The Heart of Hospice podcast on The Whole Care Network, along with a host of other caregiver podcasts by clicking here.

Book podcast host Helen Bauer to speak at your event or conference by sending an email to [email protected].

Find more podcast episodes from The Heart of Hospice at The Heart of Hospice Podcast (theheartofhospice.com)

If you’re having difficulty sleeping these days, we’ve got some tips for you. Jerry and Helen are sharing details about how you can get the most out of your sleeping hours. Using guidance from The Sleep Institute, we’ve learned it’s the little habits that help with getting to sleep, staying asleep, and staying energized during the day. Exercise, food and substance intake, screen time with blue light all affect how well we sleep. If you’re a caregiver, unpaid or professional, you need all the good sleep you can get! Caregiving uses up energy and might be experiencing more fatigue than usual due to the stress of COVID-19. Be intentional with your sleep hygiene. This episode of The Heart of Hospice is sponsored by Niagara Hospice of western NY state. Niagara Hospice’s team put together a meaningful remote remembrance service to honor the patients and families they’ve served. You can find their “Forget Me Not” service on the Niagara website https://www.niagarahospice.org/blog/100051/Niagara_Hospice_Virtual_Remembrance_Ceremony. Whether you’re grieving a personal loss or dealing with secondary grief as a healthcare professional, you’ll find meaning in Niagara Hospice’s beautiful service. You can find more information and support for your hospice journey at theheartofhospice.com. Connect with Jerry and Helen by sending an email to [email protected]. Because a hospice journey is 24/7, you can access theheartofhospice.com to find resources for advance care planning, self care, and hospice 101. No matter where you are in your hospice journey, you are The Heart of Hospice!

Do you know what a hospice nurse really does? In the first episode of our Fact or Fiction series, we’re sharing the facts about hospice nursing - the perfect topic for Nurses Week! The hospice nurse isn’t there to make decisions for patients and caregivers, but to offer support, education, along with clinical care. While the nurse will teach about medications and hospice philosophy, the patient makes all the decisions. Hospice nurses also know there’s more to end of life care than just medications. The nurse should offer different modalities to take care of patients, and to work with the whole hospice interdisciplinary team to provide the best care. Hospice nurses never accelerate a death. They also don’t seek to prolong life. The goal is always to provide care that enhances quality of life for patients. Stay tuned for the next few weeks to hear the facts about the other members of the hospice team in our Fact or Fiction series! Our sponsor for today’s episode is Hospice of Southern Maine. Hospice of Southern Maine is the only Medicare-certified hospice agency serving Cumberland and York counties. Hospice of Southern Maine is proud to bring you the 10th Annual Anne L. Hunter Memorial Thresholds Conference. For only $35, registrants can participate virtually in this year’s conference, “The Art and Science of Dying: Death as a Part of Life” featuring Barbara Karnes, author of “the little blue book” Gone from my Site, and Dr. B.J. Miller, well-known hospice physician. Reserve your place for the 2021 Thresholds conference May 20, 1:00pm - 4:30pm ET by clicking here. You can find more information about hospice care and philosophy at theheartofhospice.com. The Heart of Hospice is here to support you. Send questions and comments to [email protected]. We’ll send you a personal reply. Whether you’re a hospice professional or an unpaid caregiver for someone who’s seriously ill, your end of life journey matters. You are The Heart of Hospice.