HOSPICE VOLUNTEER TRAINING OFFERED AT MEDICAL CENTER

The Hospice Program is a service designed to help terminally ill patients and their families through the illness and the bereavement process that follows. Hospice volunteers visit with patients to offer support and companionship or to provide respite time for the primary care person. Hospice volunteers may help with the patient's personal care, run errands, perform household tasks, or assist in other ways which help families during their time of crisis. Volunteers also help with clerical duties in the Hospice Office. The Hospice Program at the medical center invites all ages, male and female, to enroll in the course.

The training covers topics such as family dynamics, listening skills, the hospice philosophy of care, pain management, and personal feelings about death and dying. To learn more about joining this special team of volunteers please call Lil Loughlin, Volunteer Coordinator at the Hospice Program, at (201) 342-7766.

Hackensack University Medical Center, a teaching and research hospital affiliated with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - New Jersey Medical School and a member of the University Health System of New Jersey, is the largest provider of inpatient and outpatient services in the state of New Jersey. The medical center has been honored since 1995 as the first hospital in New Jersey to receive the Magnet Award for nursing excellence from The American Nurses Credentialing Center, and the second hospital in the nation to receive a four-year designation of this award. The medical center is also the recipient of the Consumer Choice Award in Bergen and Passaic counties for five consecutive years. Based on a survey of 400,000 people to determine the best hospitals in the country, the medical center was named as the hospital of choice for quality of staff, community programs, personalized care, and overall reputation.