Hospice plays leading role in education programming
For more than 27 years, Seacoast Hospice has played a leading role in educational programming that has been instrumental in educating health care professionals throughout New Hampshire on issues affecting end-of-life care. The fourth Annual Trucia Goodwillie End-of-Life Care Symposium provided an opportunity for a wide variety of professionals – including doctors, nurses, ethicists, educators, social workers, and bereavement counselors – to share and exchange ideas and obtain continuing education credits.This year’s fourth Annual Symposium brought more than 200 professionals to the Frank Jones Conference Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The focus of the Symposium was "Speaking of Death: Conversations with and Caring for the Dying." Featured plenary speakers included Rev. Kathleen Rusnak, PhD. and Laura Basili, PhD. Rev. Rusnak presented Starting the Conversation: Entering the World of the Dying, providing a better understanding of the world of the dying which in turn fosters better dialogue with the terminally ill and their families. Dr. Basili presented The Spirit of Hope: Enhancing Hope in Those We Serve, exploring the varied definitions and dimensions of the hoping process.
Additional presentations included Compassion Fatigue; Palliative Care in the Nursing Home; Reaching the Soul of the Dementia Patient; Loss Grief, and Elder Care; Alzheimer’s Communications; Physician Orders Regarding Treatment; Expressive Therapies; Final Hours; and Reiki Certification.
Trucia Goodwillie was a nurse who championed excellence in end-of-life care. Her passion was to promote education and support, particularly to nursing assistants. Her hope was to enhance their skills and abilities to care for their patients and families. Trucia demonstrated her passion of excellence at the Edgewood Centre in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. After her death, Trucia’s family established the Trucia Goodwillie fund at Seacoast Hospice to provide advanced training and education in palliative care for all people who provide end-of-life care in any setting.
The symposium is produced by Seacoast Hospice, a not-for-profit organization, which acts as an advocate for the hospice concept of care through ongoing programs of professional education and public information on issues relating to illness, loss, grief, and bereavement. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Hospice Education Institute.
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