Chaplain protests combining nursing services
March 1, 2000 less than 1 minute read
Chaplain protests combining nursing services
An Allentown, PA, hospice chaplain left her position in protest after the hospital that houses the program combined nursing services with its home health program, claiming executives made the decision for financial reasons, rather than the best interest of its patients.
The Rev. Ann Huey, who had 15 years of service with Lehigh Valley Hospice, argued that home health nurses and hospices nurses have distinct approaches to patient care. Using a home health nurse, she said, jeopardizes patients’ ability to achieve a pain-free, spiritually fulfilling death.
"With a dying patient and his family, we get one chance to do it right," Huey told the Morning Call, Allentown’s local newspaper. "It’s tough if folks are not wanting to be there. It’s tough on caregivers and patients and family."
She also feared that financial pressures facing hospices will cause more hospices to go the way of Lehigh Valley.
Carol Schaffer, vice president of Lehigh Valley Health Services, which includes home care and hospice, says the move makes sense and will actually benefit patients. She told the newspaper that it was logical to train home care nurses in hospice care, because many of their patients need home care benefits early in their illness and that it would improve continuity of care.
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