A Better Way Home's Boise hospice care is "palliative" (comfort) care.  Palliative care is more holistic and focuses on reducing pain, providing comfort and meeting the physical, spiritual, and social needs of those who are terminally ill so that they can live the remainder of their life fully and comfortably.  

To address the physical needs of our patients, we provide a clinical team consisting of the following:  

Medical Director: The Medical Director has an obligation to make sure that each hospice patient receives all the medically indicated services needed to control the symptoms of the patient's terminal illness. The Medical Director assumes overall responsibility for the medical component of the hospice patient’s care program.  Hospice Medical Directors have experience in treating the symptoms of the terminally ill, and, therefore, can be a valuable resource to the patient, the family, and the hospice staff in managing the symptoms that arise from time to time.  Part of the benefit of utilizing hospice services is the extra assurance that the patient will be kept as comfortable and pain-free as possible.

Registered Nurse:  Our Registered Nurses are professional hospice nurses with specialized training in evaluating and caring for the terminally ill patient, and assisting their family as they cope with the death of a loved one. Our nurses are experts in listening, observing, communicating, and sensitively providing care under some of the most emotionally intense atmospheres imaginable. Our RN/Case Manager is the first and foremost contact the patient and family have with the hospice. It is the RN/Case Manager who makes referrals to other hospice professionals and who contacts the physician for the initial medical orders.

Our RN/Case Manager will be constantly watching and observing changes which occur moment by moment in the terminally ill. After assessing the patient's signs and symptoms, she will create a plan of care along with the other hospice team members, and then be responsible for reassessing that plan of care in order to assure the comfort and management of symptoms which the patient may experience. The RN may start medications based upon standing medical orders approved beforehand by the attending physician or upon new orders given by the attending physician or medical director.

Our RN/Case Manager supervises, teaches and directs other nursing staff. She is responsible for the care provided under her direction and nursing orders. She will administer medications, help manage symptoms, reassess the patient and consult with the physician as needed, and teach the patient and family about the nursing care and medications being provided. She may teach the patient and family how to continue to give medications when she is not there. If you need services which the hospice is not yet providing, your first step is to speak directly with your loved one's RN/Case Manager.

Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA): The CNA provides basic bedside care for the patient. The CNA will often be the Team member who actually spends the most time with the hospice patient and family, because they are providing the basic care in the home (or facility) and helping the patient with the routine activities of daily living (ADLs).

The CNA reports directly to the RN/Case Manager and must follow the plan of care and nursing orders made by the RN/Case Manager. The CNA will make regular visits to the patient and family, provide help as needed for bathing, dressing, and eating, for example. She checks the patient's vital signs (heart rate, breathing rate, temperature and blood pressure) and also reports immediately to the RN/Case Manager if there are any significant changes in the patient's condition.

The CNA will help to transfer the patient from bed to chair or sofa, into the bathroom or other areas. She, along with other staff, will share techniques for safely transferring the patient. However, it is the RN/Case Manager's responsibility for teaching the patient and family. A physical therapist may also explain safe transfer techniques to the family and patient.