Hospice Care

Hospice is a coordinated program of services designed to meet the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs of patients and families in their final days of life. Hospice is a special kind of caring for those nearing the end of life’s journey. Our care is centered around the concept that the final stages of life should be lived fully, with as much comfort and dignity as possible.
3HC provides hospice care where the patient prefers, at home, at Skilled Nursing Facilities, Assisted Living Facilities, and our inpatient homes (Kitty Askins Hospice Center and SECU Crystal Coast Hospice House).

Hospice Philosophy

Bereavement Care & Grief Support
The bereavement of family and friends is a journey on its own and occurs in direct correlation with the imminent dying and death of the patient. A deep feeling of separation happens when the loved one’s consciousness diminishes and their awareness of the environment vanishes. But grief doesn’t descend until after the reality of the impending death hits. The danger here is overwhelming guilt. Grief is a highly personal experience; as strong and unique as the relationship that has been severed.
3HC hospice nurses and counselors are trained to intervene when appropriate and promote emotional interdependence within the family and friends. 3HC’s philosophy of compassionate care is not only for the patient, but for all family and friends as well. Bereavement services are available for 13 months after the death of a loved one. This includes visits, telephone calls, mailings, support groups, memorial services, and our annual Wings Camp for Grieving Children.

Spiritual Care
Consistent with all hospice concepts, spiritual care should give the patient the opportunity to assess and self-evaluate within a defined spiritual perspective; to investigate beliefs, not just take them for granted. We offer traditional practices, such as reading scripture, prayer, rites of forgiveness and reconciliation, meditation and in Christian tradition, the Eucharist or Communion. The Hospice Chaplain is available to meet the spiritual needs of all hospice patients, whatever their faith or belief stance. All people have spiritual concerns when facing death.
Hospice Care Details

Hospice Admission Criteria and Programs
Because hospice is not a place, but a philosophy of care, patients can receive services almost anywhere. The hospice team primarily provides services in a patient’s private residence, either with intermittent home health services, or continuous home care. Although it is not ideal, hospice services can be administered in a hospital if necessary, typically in a Palliative Care Unit. However, many patients are served hospice care who reside in rest homes, assisted living facilities, and skilled nursing homes. 3HC is also proud to offer services in the first inpatient facility in eastern North Carolina and one of only a few in the state, the Kitty Askins Hospice Center. We also provide inpatient hospice care at the Crystal Coast Hospice House.

Palliative Care

Pain and Symptom Management
If the patient is remaining in their home, it is essential that the hospice team prepares caregivers and family members on how to manage the symptoms that emerge from either their sickness, medication, or lack of mobility. The most common symptoms to look out for are skin breakdown and bed sores, nausea, vomiting, constipation, and shortness of breath. The hospice philosophy demands that the patient is provided with the fullest possible comfort and dignity, and symptom control plays a major part in that.
But sometimes, when a person has a serious illness, poor or no appetite is normal. This can be caused by a number of things, such as difficulty swallowing, nausea, vomiting, altered sense of taste or smell, feeling full, tumor growth, depression, pain or impending death. There could be no known cause. It is important that patients and their families, or caregivers, not feel guilty about this process.
Families and caregivers of a hospice patient are united in their common experience of caring for and losing someone valuable to their lives. The patient, their illness, and their death can often bring people closer together and expand the definition of a family unit. But all those who are affected by the hospice process will go through changes and it is important that the disruption in typical family roles doesn’t create a feeling of guilt or remorse in the patient. While all available family members and caregivers should value their time with the patient, no one should be expected to provide constant attention. Bereavement starts before death, the feelings are strong, and all people involved in the patient’s hospice care, or even merely present, need to be given the time to process the experience and treasure the one who is passing and then is gone.
Care In The Place You Call Home
Hospice Care Facilities

Kitty Askins Hospice Center
Goldsboro, NC

SECU Crystal Coast Hospice House
Newport, NC