Course Overview

Hospice work is a calling. To care for people with a terminal diagnosis and less than six months to live requires a different approach to medicine and healing. Whether a nurse, doctor, social worker or acupuncturist, we want to help the patient feel comfortable, whole, and human.

The hospice team works to provide attentive care for each patient with minimal interventions. Although hospice is a specific medical designation, patients can be homebound for other reasons and greatly benefit from a practitioner treating them at home.

Acupuncture can relieve many symptoms associated with this stage of life without medications or side effects. Acupuncture is gentle, effective, and virtually painless while bringing about a sense of well-being and relaxation.

In this course, you will gain valuable tools for end-of-life care and home visits. Whether you work in hospice or simply want to have confidence in providing comfort care for loved ones, patients, and their families.

We will go into practical skills for treating medically fragile patients and navigating home healthcare, including travel, safety, and interactions with family and other caregivers.

We will also look at the stages of dying and share strategies to connect compassionately with patients at the end of life.

Course Objectives

• Gain practical skills for treating medically fragile patients.
• Learn ways to navigate home healthcare, including travel, safety, and interactions with family and other caregivers.
• Understand the role of acupuncture in hospice care both as a unique medical service and within the hospice system and hospice team.

Course Outline

0 hrs - 2 hrsSafety in hospice and home health. This section will cover treating medically fragile patients, tips for traveling to the patient's residence and navigating situations in the residence, clean bag method and CNT, and skills to share with caregivers.

2 hrs - 4 hrsEthical approaches in hospice and home health. This section will cover professional boundaries in the home care situation, HIPAA and charting, informed consent, and ways to oevercome communication challenges with patients.

4 hrs - 5 hrsDiagnosis and Treatment at End of Life. This section will cover common Western medical terminal diagnoses in hospice, TCM diagnosis in hospice and at end of life, and TCM approaches. We will also share case studies from hospice encounters.

5 hrs - 6 hrsHospice organization structure and finding a job. This section will give an introduction to hospice, its definitions, funding and structure, tips for finding a job in hospice as an acupuncturist, and policies and procedures for acupuncture services.