THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 23, 1995 TAG: 9511180322
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: THUMBS UP
SOURCE: BY JANELLE LA BOUVE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
Teri L. Watson decided to take a hospice seminar to earn extra credit for a Tidewater Community College psychology class.
But the 31-year-old had not expected the weekend to change her life.
``I signed up right on the spot,'' said Watson, a Miars Farm resident who soon plans to enter the nursing program at DePaul Hospital.
``The death of a patient must be the hardest thing a nurse has to deal with,'' she said. ``I thought I should become familiar with dying before I go into nursing.
On Monday, Watson and 33 other unpaid workers with the Hospice Volunteers of the Portsmouth Area were honored at a reception at Portsmouth General Hospital in honor of National Hospice Month.
Hospice volunteers provide support to the terminally ill and their families. Volunteers are given special training in aiding patients and families coping with the physical, emotional and practical problems related to the terminal illness they face.
The Hospice Volunteers of the Portsmouth Area serves all of Portsmouth, the Western Branch and Deep Creek areas of Chesapeake and northern Suffolk.
Watson volunteered, she said, in order to do ``hands on, one-on-one work.''
``I wanted to be more personally involved than just handing out food,'' she said.
Hospice is a team effort. In addition to a volunteer, a registered nurse is assigned to every hospice patient. Both a social worker and a certified nursing assistant are required to complete the team.
The volunteers provide a variety of services.
``It can be anywhere from reading to the patient, talking with family members or providing a shoulder to lean on,'' Watson said. ``We may go through photo albums with the patient or family members who want to show you what the patient was like before he became ill.''
Volunteers may accompany a patient to the doctor, do the grocery shopping or pick up prescriptions.
``It's like giving the caregiver or patient another set of eyes and hands,'' she said.
But having a terminally ill patient in the home is rough for the primary caregiver.
``They shoulder most of the responsibility,'' she said. ``It wears on them mentally and physically.
``A hospice volunteer is there to help take some of that pressure off,'' she said. ``Once the caregiver is into the situation, they forget about themselves and sometimes neglect their own health.''
Watson admits that working with hospice has made her more aware of her own blessings.
``Life is short,'' she said. ``I am grateful for what I have, and I want to give back. I wouldn't have the husband that I have or the child that I have if caring people had not intervened.''
Recently, Watson spent 10 hours a week caring for a patient during the last month of his life.
``The bond between the patient and his wife was so strong,'' she said. ``When my husband and I get older, I hope our marriage will be like that. Right up to the very end, the patient's dignity was intact.
``People who are terminally ill want to control their remaining time. Hospice helps the patient bring closure to anything that might make dying easier.
``I was not quite sure how I felt about death before,'' she said. ``Now I don't think of death as a bad thing but as a relief from pain and suffering.''
Dottie B. Reish, executive director of Hospice Volunteers of the Portsmouth Area, says that as a volunteer, Watson is a self-starter.
``She anticipates a need and goes ahead and offers her assistance,'' Reish said. ``She takes the initiative to interact with the patient and the family and has a special intuition.''
VOLUNTEERS RECOGNIZED: Members of the Hospice Volunteers of the Portsmouth Area were recently recognized for their service as part of the celebration of National Hospice Month. Those honored from Portsmouth include:
Gloreen Alexander, Charlotte Atkins, Carol Brady, Laurie Buckley, Don Carter, Beverly Faulks and Helen Fooshe.
Rebecca Foreman, Glynis Gray, Diana Kitchen, Annette Lane, Doris Lincoln and Geri McNeal.
Also, Margaret Roberts, Idareta Schlussel, Gloria Simms, Barbara Starck, Carolyn Sturgis, Ashley Todd and Valerie Wilson.
Each volunteer was awarded a certificate of appreciation. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL Teri Watson has been honored as a
volunteer by the Hospice Volunteers of the Portsmouth Area. The
experience spurred her to enroll in nursing school.
by CNB