The opportunity to visit with a centurion patient in my work as a hospice volunteer has broadened my understanding of the power of comfort care at the end of life. During our weekly visits, my patient often enjoys the companionship found in reflecting upon her life’s happiest moments. Singing along to her favorite hymns while providing her with the familiarity of her rosary beads has taught me the importance of connecting with individuals through compassion, which continues to spark my excitement for a career in medicine.
Before this experience, my understanding of the importance of comfort care was limited. As Atul Gawande notes in Being Mortal, medicine encompasses far beyond life-saving treatment that seek to extend one’s life in the face of illness. Through end-of-life care, the hospice medical team is able to honor a patient’s wishes and ultimately provide an end-of-life experience that honor’s each individual by upholding their dignity. As Sunita Puri, M.D illustrates in “The Lesson of Impermanence,” “the notion that fighting death at all costs wasn’t the sole purpose of medicine.” As such, the opportunity to visit with Susan each week has taught me the power of compassionate and dignified care at the end of life.
In conveying Susan’s needs and comfort level to the hospice care team, I have furthered my understanding of how to best support patient-focused care in my future medical career. In reflecting upon my most meaningful experience, I believe that the opportunity to provide companionship through familiar conversation was most impactful in providing compassionate support. While sitting with her and watching the evening news, Susan often enjoyed the opportunity to share her fondest memories of her children. At the end of each visit, I was always honored to help her retrieve her mother’s rosary beads for her evening prayer. Through the course of each visit, this opportunity to provide Susan with the familiarity of her fondest memories reminded me of the importance of upholding dignity at the end of life. In my future career as a physician, I look forward to honoring the lives of my patient population through the compassionate care that I learned as a hospice volunteer.
Further, the opportunity to reflect upon my service through our journal submissions and group meetings with the lead Chaplain has deepened my appreciation for the immense dignity and honor that hospice care provides. Over the course of this experience, the opportunity to reflect and learn from my peers was very influential in my growth. As I shared with others my experience connecting with Susan and listened to their experiences, I better understood the individuality of each end-of-life experience. With compassionate care at its core, the opportunity to serve as a hospice volunteer taught me the impact of connecting with others and providing a sense of peace at the end of life. The palliative nature of end-of-life care exhibits the importance of upholding patient dignity in medicine by honoring the patient and family’s desires. This experience has broadened my perspective of a provider’s role in offering comfort care at the end-of-life and has furthered my excitement for a career in medicine.