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Hospice A
nurse's calling
For Pat Hood, a nurse who
recently joined the Mercy Hospice team, hospice became his calling after
both of his parents died in hospice care.
"My mom took care of my dad
when he had lung cancer in 1985 and then my mom got sick and I was the only
one able to care for her," says Pat. "The hospice nurse in
Michigan came and she laughed with me, she cried with me, she prayed with me
and she smoke with me. I gave up smoking shortly after that but I
never gave up hospice."
Pat, who spent many years as a
radio mechanic in the U.S. Army, did a 180-degree turn after his parents
died in hospice.
"I've had a passion for it
ever since," he says. "Hospice is my life's work. I plan to
continue for my entire career."
There is nothing more gratifying
than helping hospice patients and their families. "Most Americans walk
toward death backward," Pay says. "We don't ever want to look at
it. We don't want to deal with it. We have blinders on when it comes to
death, but death is part of life. "It's my job to help people deal with
death."
As Pat's mother was dying, his
own Uncle Joe had difficulty coming to terms with it. Instead of facing the
impending death, his uncle didn't want to see Pat's mom. "My sister
finally called him and said, 'It's not about you Uncle Joe, it's about my
mom and she needs you,'" recalls Pat.
Pat has had hospice patients of
all ages - from newborns to 108-year-olds. With all hospice patients, the
goal is to ease the pain of dying and give comfort in those last days.
"People often ask me how I
can do what I do and my first thought is always, 'How could I not do what I
do,'" he says. "every time I help a hospice patient and their
family, it's a salute to my parents and the hospice nurses who cared for
them."
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