Hospice nurse explains benefits of hospice care

Saturday, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter began hospice care at his home.

Monday, Channel 2′s Audrey Washington learned what makes hospice care different from traditional medical care.

“We can provide comfort not only to the patient but to the family as well,” hospice Registered Nurse, Rebecca Stafford, said.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Stafford is not a part of President Carter’s nursing team, but she explained what hospice care actually means.

“Hospice is when a patient is transitioning and there are no longer options to cure the disease,” Stafford explained. “A hospice nurse will come out weekly or as often as needed to make sure they have their medications, medical equipment, beds, wheelchairs.”

Stafford said hospice nurses involved with President Carter’s care are less focused on the quantity of life and more so on the quality of life.

TRENDING STORIES:

• 4-month-old baby safe after 13-year-old girl steals car with him inside, deputies say
• S.C. mother shot to death in Kroger parking lot after fight with woman she didn’t know, police say
• Switches that make guns automatic found in metro Atlanta almost daily, ATF says

“The quality that you get is that you’re not at doctor’s appointments, you’re at home,” Stafford said.

Stafford told Channel 2 that hospice care can last anywhere between a few hours to up to one year.

She said either way the goal is to provide comfort and dignity during a time of transition.

“Death with dignity is not a widely enough used term. Hospice can be a scary word, but it’s really not scary when you’re walking through it with hospice professionals,” Stafford said.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:

Couple leaps 23 feet to escape Airbnb fire, both break backs in the process

©2022 Cox Media Group