Vitas Hospice Svc

06/02/08

Overworked staff caring but overwhelmed

by GranddaughterofPatient at Citysearch

This is my family's second time through hospice with a grandparent. Our first experience was terrific (as good as this very hard time can be) but this time, it's scary. Vitas at-home care is very thin -- family members are basically providing full-time care with once-a-week guidance from a nurse. Turns out, much of the nurse's guidance has been inaccurate -- as in giving medications with dangerous interactions.

The full-time in-house care was so bad we brought our grandmother back home and are supplementing what we are able to do with home-care nurses. The nurses were great -- very caring -- but they're so short-staffed they come see each patient about 2-3 times a day. If one of us hadn't been there at all times, our grandmother would have died days earlier from dehydration alone.

If you need help, physical and emotional, for your dying parent or grandparent, Vitas isn't it.

• Pros: Better than nothing
• Cons: Very limited services when you need real help