Smiling faces---'What greater gift?'

I think this is something. Kinda puts things in perspective, don't you think? http://www.daytondailynews.com/dayto...type=ynews_rss

One of the services offered by Hospice of Dayton is providing caregivers at partnering nursing homes and extended care facilities.

Kristi Devance, STNA, is one of those caregivers.

“People ask me if I like my job,” the Meadowdale graduate said. “I say, ‘no, I don’t like my job – I love my job.’”

Devance became interested in health care while job shadowing. After becoming an STNA, she was working in a nursing home. “There was someone who came in from Hospice giving care to a patient and I was like, ‘Wow! I would like to do that,’” she recalled.

Devance worked in Crisis Care before transferring to the home health service. “I go to different nursing homes. We do individualized care plans at Hospice and let’s say someone is (scheduled for) an hour but, if we go over the hour, it’s not that big a deal. I just call and let (the next patient) know.”

She says that her patients seem to appreciate the extra little touches that she provides. “I had five patients today but my one patient, she wanted her hair rolled. She’s (bedridden) and can’t roll her own hair. She said, ‘Kristi, is this our hair day?’ I said, ‘Yes, it is, girl friend.’

“It took a little bit of time but we women love getting our hair done. It’s a reward by itself. It just makes you feel better.”

Sometimes, even less effort is needed. “Just something simple, from holding someone’s hand to just talking to them – a lot of people get the impression that, just because they’re sick, we have to treat them with kid gloves.

“A lot of the patients that I have are, like, ‘I don’t want somebody to act like I’m so fragile, I can’t joke or anything.”

Devance sometimes continues care when the patient leaves the nursing home and goes home. “You continue to give them baths, some may want you to sweep up a bit or maybe fix a sandwich — whatever is required,” she said.

“To see their face light up — what greater gift is that?”

The mission of Hospice, according to Devance, is to provide the best end-of-life care possible. And when a patient passes on, she said she relies on her faith to help her deal with the loss. “I say, ‘God, thank you for that blessing and thank you for allowing me to give the best care to my patients.”

Devance is enrolled at Sinclair Community College and is taking pre-requisites necessary to become a registered nurse. “People ask when I become a nurse — when I grow up,” she said with a grin. “‘Are you going to leave Hospice?’

“Why would I?”