Hospice is a serious and challenging area of work. That makes it all the more important that we support our team—and have fun where we can.
Weekly Memorial Service
We know our team forms bonds with the patients they serve, and can experience grief and loss when a patient dies. We hold a weekly memorial service every Friday morning in our offices, led by our spiritual care counselors, to honor our patients who died in the previous week. Everyone in the team is invited to attend if they wish. As patients’ names are read, team members light candles and share stories and memories. It is a beautiful opportunity to remember and honor the people we served, and to honor the work that we do.
After remembering each patient, those present are invited to offer any other intention they wish to share with the group and light a candle for, whether a loss, a struggle or an expression of gratitude. This is an opportunity to come together as a team, pause, reflect and support each other.
Cheers Committee Bringing Fun
We have a very active Cheers Committee which plans regular events for fun and camaraderie. The Committee plans parties for holidays like Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day and Halloween. They also send out monthly emails to notify the team about any birthdays or work anniversaries happening within that month, so that we can celebrate one another. We hold a summer barbecue each year with live musical entertainment, a holiday cook-off contest to promote the expert chefs in the house (or on the team), and a holiday party at the end of the year.
As a team, we strive to give back to the community. At the holidays, we collect food for the Yolo County Foodbank (donating hundreds of pounds of food last Thanksgiving). At Christmas we adopt a family in need and collect items for the homeless and those in need in our communities.
Cheers Committee members volunteer for the role from among our staff, and any team member is invited to be a part of this planning.
Education and Support
We schedule regular education opportunities for our staff, provided by experts on our team as well as outside speakers. These can focus on clinical knowledge or on self-care, as when we held a Laughter Yoga session. We offer frequent compliance training to keep our staff up-to-date on new regulations, and offer a library of webinars staff can watch for additional education as they choose.
The team is also invited to be involved in our community education programs. We hold frequent presentations and screenings around end of life topics. Staff can choose to participate at these events, including as a facilitator for group discussion. This is an opportunity to learn in an active and engaged way.
We believe in providing education and other opportunities that enrich work-life beyond the daily routine of work tasks, to provide greater growth for our team.