Hospice News

Tinton Falls RN Receives Gold Medal for Hospice Care

Pictured here, left to right, are Lorraine Sciara, RN, FACHE, Executive Director, Barnabas Health Hospice and Palliative Care Center; Pam Schaible, RN; and Ellen Coughlin, RN, Vice President of Patient and Family Services, Barnabas Health Hospice and Palliative Care Center.

Tinton Falls, NJ -- Pam Schaible, a Registered Nurse at the Barnabas Health Hospice and Palliative Care Center (BHHPCC) at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, knows that her patients are dying, but she doesn’t treat them that way. “I'm an 'up' personality,” the Tinton Falls resident says. “I like to have fun and make people laugh.” Her approach obviously works.  Ms. Schaible was honored recently honored with Gold Medal status as a result of the many times she was mentioned in the 2009 Family Evaluation of Hospice Care (FEHC) survey distributed by the BHHPCC.

Much of Ms. Schaible’s work at Monmouth Medical Center is assisting the families of hospice patients.  “It's the families who need that little extra encouragement,” she said. “The families become like my family. I see them more than I see my brother,” Ms. Schaible adds jokingly.  And when a patient passes, their families remember her. “I do get notes, a lot of notes, from families,” she says. “They're very touching.”

This past winter a hospice patient that Ms. Schaible had been visiting for some time, passed away. “I’d see her every Tuesday,” Ms. Schaible said “We'd laugh and say our conversations were solving the world's problems.  I miss her a lot.”  Both the patient and Ms. Schaible had collections of statues of St. Nick, and the family gave her their mother’s favorite from her collection when she passed away – because she meant so much to them and their mom.

As for winning “the Gold,” Ms. Schaible said, “It makes me feel good that I made a difference.”

The Barnabas Health Hospice and Palliative Care Center at Monmouth Medical Center is an affiliate of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System.  For more information, please call or visit www.barnabashealthhospice.org.

Date: August 4, 2010

[ top ] [ back to News Index ]