December 2018
Janice
Dombrowsky
,
RN
Hospice
Ascension at Home
Wausau
,
WI
United States
Janice stepped into her nursing shoes with the admission of a child to our program. She lives by the philosophy of "do what is right, don't worry about who is right." This child came from a distant hospital, his father was the primary caregiver and was not quite ready for a full comfort philosophy. Our team learned we had to lean into this family not steamroll them. Janice ended up in the role of case manager. At the very end of this child's life, Janice made the decision to initiate continuous care. She saw that the parents needed to be mom and dad and they needed to just be present for their dying son. She could see they could not be physical caregivers at that time. Through Janice they allowed the hospice staff (mainly Janice) to care for their son's needs physically while dying. She was also able to help the team care for the psychosocial and spiritual needs of the child and his family. No child's death is easy, but she allowed this family to have a beautiful experience with their son.