The Concerns of Hospice Patients and the Role of Hospice Volunteers

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to identify the concerns of hospitalized terminally ill patients, newly enrolled in a volunteer hospice program and to determine staff nurses’, and volunteers’ perceptions of the hospice volunteer role. The degree to which patients felt lonely, anxious, depressed, afraid of pain, and understood was determined using quantitative measures. Nurses’ and hospice volunteers’ perceptions of the volunteer role were assessed through a self-report questionnaire. The results indicated that loneliness and depression are major concerns among terminally ill patients. Anxiety and fear of pain were not reported as significant. Almost half of the patients identified a nurse as the person in hospital who understood best how they felt about being sick and in hospital. The manner in which volunteers used their time with patients seems congruent with the volunteer roles that both they and the nursing staff identified as most important. The findings provide a basis upon which to develop effective hospice programming and evaluation.