Clinical Center News
Summer 2018

New hospice suites provide home-like environment

A picture of a patient bed, with a family area in the foreground
In addition to a patient room, the suite also has a community area (seen past the corridor), that has a kitchen and family sitting area.
 

According to the NIH National Institute on Aging, people who are at the end of life need care in the areas of physical comfort, mental and emotional needs, spiritual issues, and practical tasks. Their families need support as well. In hopes of providing that support to our patients, the NIH Clinical Center opened a Hospice Unit on 3SEN-Medical Oncology July 10.

"Even though this is a hospital, we wanted to make these units seem more like home, where families can spend time together and not feel like they're in a hospital," said Dr. Ann Berger, Chief of the Clinical Center Pain and Palliative Care Service. "We're making sure that nurses are knowledgeable and comfortable working in this setting and that all staff members are more sensitive to the needs of patients and families in the hospice care environment. We know that what happens in this setting will be remembered by families."

The unit is comprised of two rooms that have been converted into a home-like environment where families can stay with the adult patients. Each suite has a bedroom and a community area, including a kitchen and family sitting area. They're decorated differently, each having different color schemes - the furnishings, lighting and even décor were all carefully chosen and arranged so that families members of all ages will feel at home.

At the opening ceremony, NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins said, "There are noble efforts made to try to save lives that don't always result in that happy outcome but yet we promise those individuals that we're not just interested in doing science. We are interested in them. We care about them. We owe it to them, in those circumstances where our efforts are not succeeding, to care for them in a place like this."

Collins praised the multidisciplinary teams who developed the suites: social work, biomedical engineering, administrative management, primary care, spiritual care and many other departments and staff from many of the institutes, particularly the National Cancer Institutes and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Nursing's leadership also "play a major role," Collins added.

At the opening ceremony, Dr. Gwen Wallen, Chief Nurse Officer of the Clinical Center, said "I visited Montgomery Hospice's Casey House to tour where our nurses were receiving training for end-of-life care, and saw they were designed not only for patients but with communal areas for family use. I have kept in mind the advice of the nursing director at Casey House who said it's more important for the care we provide our patients to be 'high touch' than 'high tech" even though they are still part of a clinical research environment."

Sixteen nurses in the Nursing Department, led by Wallen, have received specialized training to work in the hospice suites. "This is the beginning. We have a lot of work to do together because these really are going to be special places and we're going to have to work as interdisciplinary teams to make it really work the way it's supposed to work," Wallen added.

Senior leaders at NIH cut a ribbon opening two hospice suites at the Clinical Center
Dr. Ann Berger, chief of the Pain and Palliative Care Service, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the NIH, Dr. Jim Gilman, CEO of the Clinical Center and Dr. Gwen Wallen, chief nursing officer, open the Hospice Suites.
 
Three women and one man in the empty patient room of the new hospice suite talking
Dr. Francis Collins, NIH director (second from right), joins Clinical Center staff, and Ann Mitchell, president and CEO of Montgomery Hospice, at the opening ceremony of the Building 10 Hospice Suites. Before opening the suites, Clinical Center leaders visited local hospices, including Montgomery Hospice, to learn about their services.
 
While standing in a hospice suite room, NIH staff hold up a design poster board and review the color scheme and design elements of the new care units
In June, NIH Clinical Center staff, Dr. Ann Berger, chief of the Pain and Palliative Care Service, Wendy Manning, a senior administrative officer, and Dolores Elliot, a psychiatric mental health clinical nurse specialist gather in one of the nearly completed Hospice Unit suites to review the design and functionality for patients and their families.
 
Woman points to artwork that is being hung on the wall by a man
Lillian Fitzgerald, Curator with the NIH Clinical Center Art Program, advises contractor where to place the tranquil art in the family area of a hospice suite.
 

You are now leaving the NIH Clinical Center website.

This external link is provided for your convenience to offer additional information. The NIH Clinical Center is not responsible for the availability, content or accuracy of this external site.

The NIH Clinical Center does not endorse, authorize or guarantee the sponsors, information, products or services described or offered at this external site. You will be subject to the destination site’s privacy policy if you follow this link.

More information about the NIH Clinical Center Privacy and Disclaimer policy is available at https://www.cc.nih.gov/disclaimers.html