Going Away Party...

Where does the time go?  I knew it had been a while, but my last post was almost two months ago?  I guess I need to schedule time to write.

The second in command at our office has taken a new job and will be moving out of our town towards the end of the month.  The new position she has accepted is a really great opportunity, one that was so great it trumped her desire to continue to lead the really great team of co-workers that she had led for the past six years.  Below is a part of my part of the video taped messages we all made for a little going away surprise:

It is a given that your departure will leave a big hole in the office.  The only reason I am not concerned about us rallying is because you carefully selected each and every member of the team to be the collective whole that we are.  In addition you taught us, by the example of your own personal high standards, how to deliver quality patient care and we will continue to do so after your departure.

This is a good example of a true team player.  Yes, she did her job very well, but the fact that she made the focus of her job the greater good of the patients and of the whole, speaks to the kind of person that she is.

This is also the kind of attitude a good volunteer will possess.  When one puts the good of another ahead of themselves both people experience a richness and a specialness that has a lasing effect of both.

She will be missed by all of us at the office, but as she moves on toward new adventures she will leave behind all of the compassionate and care that she taught us by example.  We wish her nothing but the best and send her off with much love.

Merry Christmas

Below is the Christmas E-Mail I sent to my volunteers, and it will give you a little flavor of what is happening in my world this holiday season.

Hi All,

Is everyone ready for Christmas?  Would I be bragging if I said I was?  It is easy when you don't do much...  This year my husband is having a total knee replacement (12/19) and there is no way my personality could handle having all the Christmas "crap" sitting around until such a time that he can climb back into the attic to take care of it (I like to adhere to our stick division of marital labor, and climbing into the attic is DEFINITELY his job!) so we didn't put up any decorations this year.  We have a neighbor that always gets us a poinsettia and I hung a few bulbs and some garland on my rosemary tree and we called it good. 

I am also a big believer in "shopping at home," and those of you that have experienced my computer skills know I don't mean Internet shopping!  I walk around and look for things that others might enjoy.  Sometimes the gifts just call out to me that so-and-so would LOVE having me at their house so that is how I decide.  For the rest of the people in my life, Christmas was a craft this year so as I see those of you that didn't come to the party I will present you with the wonderful creation made just for my volunteers. 

I hope you have a wonderful celebration with all of your loved ones and that all of your Christmas wishes come true!  Know that you are treasured and appreciated by all of us at Hospice Advantage (me most of all), and look forward to my New Years e-mail next week! :)

Many blessings,

Patty

12 Days of Christmas With a Twist

I took the traditional 12 Days of Christmas and changed the words "True Love" to Volunteer and swapped out the traditional gifts to the gifts my volunteers give to us all year long. 

I am pretty proud of how it turned out and I think the volunteers that attended out holiday party enjoyed it, even though the staff really could have benefited from some singing practice before hand.

“The Twelve Days of Christmas” 

On the first day of Christmas our volunteers gave to us a healthy dose of care and compassion.

On the second day of Christmas our volunteers gave to us two life reviews, and a healthy dose of care and compassion.

On the third day of Christmas our volunteers gave to us three games of Skip Bo, two life reviews, and a healthy dose of care and compassion.

On the fourth day of Christmas our volunteers gave to us four special art projects, three games of Skip Bo, two life reviews, and a healthy dose of care and compassion.

On the fifth day of Christmas our volunteers gave to us five gen-t-l-e ma-s-s-ages.  Four special art projects, three games of Skip Bo, two life reviews, and a healthy dose of care and compassion.

On the sixth day of Christmas our volunteers gave to us six games of Dominos, five gen-t-l-e ma-s-s-ages.  Four special art projects, three games of Skip Bo, two life reviews, and a healthy dose of care and compassion.

On the seventh day of Christmas our volunteers gave to us seven Reiki sessions, six games of Dominos, five gen-t-l-e ma-s-s-ages.  Four special art projects, three games of Skip Bo, two life reviews, and a healthy dose of care and compassion.

On the eighth day of Christmas our volunteers gave to us eight letters written, seven Reiki sessions, six games of Dominos, five gen-t-l-e ma-s-s-ages.  Four special art projects, three games of Skip Bo, two life reviews, and a healthy dose of care and compassion.

On the ninth day of Christmas our volunteers gave to us nine music performances, eight letters written, seven Reiki sessions, six games of Dominos, five gen-t-l-e ma-s-s-ages.  Four special art projects, three games of Skip Bo, two life reviews, and a healthy dose of care and compassion.

On the tenth day of Christmas our volunteers gave to us ten office tasks, nine music performances, eight letters written, seven Reiki sessions, six games of Dominos, five gen-t-l-e ma-s-s-ages.  Four special art projects, three games of Skip Bo, two life reviews, and a healthy dose of care and compassion.

On the eleventh day of Christmas our volunteers gave to us eleven bereavement calls, ten office tasks, nine music performances, eight letters written, seven Reiki sessions, six games of Dominos, five gen-t-l-e ma-s-s-ages.  Four special art projects, three games of Skip Bo, two life reviews, and a healthy dose of care and compassion.

On the twelfth day of Christmas our volunteers gave to us twelve friendly visits, eleven bereavement calls, ten office tasks, nine music performances, eight letters written, seven Reiki sessions, six games of Dominos, five gen-t-l-e ma-s-s-ages.  Four special art projects, three games of Skip Bo, two life reviews, and a healthy dose of care and compassion.

Giving and Receiving

I have again been remise about posting regularly, but if at first you don't succeed try try again.  Right?

On a personal note, after nine years my mister and I have closed our adult foster care home.  Assisting the residents in finding new homes and closing everything down took lots of our time, and then last Monday (my) Mister had a total knee replacement.  I think I am finally organized to the point that I can start blogging again.

I found this article when I was looking for something to use at our latest art group that some of my volunteers do at one of the facilities we serve.  I think it is something that  all of us would benefit from practicing and wanted to share it will all of my readers.  Enjoy!

The universe operates through dynamic exchange . . . giving and receiving are different aspects of the flow of energy in the universe. And in our willingness to give that which we seek, we keep the abundance of the universe circulating in our lives.

I will put the Law of Giving and Receiving into effect by making a commitment to take the following steps:

1. Wherever I go, and whomever I encounter, I will bring them a gift. The gift may be a compliment, a flower, or a prayer. Today, I will give something to everyone I come into contact with, and so I will begin the process of circulating joy, wealth and affluence in my life and in the lives of others.

2. Today I will gratefully receive all the gifts that life has to offer me. I will receive the gifts of nature: sunlight and the sound of birds singing, or spring showers or the first snow of winter. I will also be open to receiving from others, whether it be in the form of a material gift, money, a compliment or a prayer.

3. I will make a commitment to keep wealth circulating in my life by giving and receiving life’s most precious gifts: the gifts of caring, affection, appreciation and love. Each time I meet someone, I will silently wish them happiness, joy and laughter.

VC vacation

Hello dear blog readers,

I am writing this to you from the library of Carnival’s ship Destiny as we cruise towards Ocho Rios. 
 Keeping in format with this blog being about volunteer education let me share how this works.

At the start of the trip I purchase Internet minutes with the goal of having all the minutes I desire
 WITHOUT having to buy another package.  I write the blog and or an e-mail off line and then copy
and paste it where I want it once I have everything organized.  This saves lots of minutes as I don’t
have to waste them while I am thinking of just the right way to compose my sentences.

Now enough with the teaching, THIS IS VACATION, and I am having a very nice time as the pictures
 will attest.  As I write this it is one o’clock and already today we have run six miles on the
outdoor track, ate breakfast, laid out in the sun for awhile, played a game of euchre, relaxed in the
sauna, showered, now I’m getting this blog ready to post, and then it will be time to eat again.

This afternoon we are taking a fitness boot camp that brags it will easily burn 700 calories.  Do you
think that is enough to have two deserts for dinner?

Dreams DO Come True...

We have a patient on caseload right now that owned and rode motorcycles in his younger days.  One day, he was talking with his nurse and mentioned to him that  "he knows he can no longer ride a motorcycle himself but he sure would like to take a ride in a sidecar."  That remark made its way back to our office and as volunteer coordinator I knew that one of our regular volunteers worked at a bike shop.  I contacted her and put her on the lookout for a sidecar.  A couple of days later, out of the blue, into the bike shop parking lot rode a guy with a sidecar attached to his bike!  What are the chances of that without the help of some divine intervention?  Our volunteer ask him if he would be willing to help us make the patient's dream come true.  He told her that he would be happy to,  and once our social worker got all the consent forms signed we sat a date for the ride.

The day before the ride my volunteer sent me a text and ask what I thought about asking the newspaper to come out and cover the story.  I told her that I had called the paper, left a message,  but had not heard back, and thought it would be wonderful if they covered the story.  She told me she would send them an e-mail request.  DUH!  I guess my age is showing as it never even occurred to me to send an e-mail.  Thank goodness for young volunteers because the paper responded to her e-mail and agreed to come out and cover the story.  How wonderful is that?

The morning of the ride arrived and several of our staff were able to come to the facility to join in on the fun.  Our patient was a little shy at all the attention but when he saw the bike and sidecar he couldn't move fast enough to get into it.  His hospice nurse assisted him into the sidecar, and my volunteer helped him to put on a helmet and off he went.  After the driver road him around for a bit he stopped and ask our patient how he was doing?  Our patient's reply, "Well, I could ride more, but I think they are expecting us back soon," so back they came.
Several days after the event our patient was still talking about the wonderful time he had.  What a blessing it was to be able to make this wish a reality, and that was not the only blessing of the day.

In the month of July we had lost a more than normal number of patients, and the entire staff needed a little joy to raise spirits.  Having the newspaper come and cover the story, and be featured in the local paper was exactly what the doctor ordered!  It was so terrific to not only make our patient feel special, but to have the spotlight on the good things we do as part of our daily jobs.  A fabulous pat on the back that buoyed us all up and helped us heal from the loss of some really special patients.

Many thanks for the willingness of my volunteer to go the extra mile to help the team fulfill this patient's wish.  This absolutely would not have happened without her.   I am so fortunate to have the best team of volunteers ever assembled.  Each one has special talents and gifts and willingly shares them to make a huge difference in our patients lives.

Willingness is all that matters...

One of the services our hospice company provides is a compassionate care team.  This team is made up of volunteers that are willing to be contacted on very short notice to spend time with a person that is actively dying.

We had a request for just such a sitter late last week.  The request was for someone to sit with a dying patient and read him scriptures.  I had the perfect volunteer in mind so I sent her an e-mail and ask if she would be able to spend some time with this man the following evening.  She replied back that she would be happy to help out in this matter.

As it turned out, the man died later the same day the request came in so there was no need for the volunteer to make her visit.  Following is the volunteers response to the e-mail I sent her telling her our patient had passed.

I am so sorry to hear that.  My prayers will be with the family. I have to confess I was a little nervous, but I felt like it was something that I could definately help with and I wanted to.  Thank you for considering me for the job.

 

This would have been this volunteers first time sitting as a member of the compassionate care team.  Of course she would be a bit nervous.  The important part was that she didn't let it stop her from doing something that she felt was important and knew that she could assist in. 

 

I am a big believer in the theory that if we simply show up we will be used in exactly the right way.  We don't have to worry about how things will go or if we will goof up.  If we show up, everything else will fall into place.

 

We are all on this Earth to help one another and make the world a better place.  It is much easier to complete this task if we don't let doubt or worry creep into our thought patterns.  As I put it, "I just need to stay out of my way," and not let self-doubt talk interfer in doing what I am being lead to do.

 

So big Kudos volunteer for your willngness to be used by God to bring comfort and peace to another.  May he reward you greatly and bring you your hearts desires.