Episode Details

179 Hospice Is About Living: Honest Conversations, Palliative vs. Hospice, and Supporting Nurses with Gina Harris MSN, MSQT

Season 9 Episode 179 Published 6 months, 4 weeks ago

Description

179 Hospice Is About Living: Honest Conversations, Palliative vs. Hospice, and Supporting Nurses with Gina Harris MSN, MSQT

Host Marie Betcher, a registered nurse and former hospice nurse, interviews Gina Harris MSN, MSQT, Chief Clinical Officer at Marisol Health in South Carolina, about hospice education and reducing fear around end-of-life care. Gina shares her career path from mortgage banking to 25 years in nursing, including critical care leadership and work as a CMS-certified surveyor, and explains how hospice nursing is emotionally demanding and often undervalued. The conversation centers on the need for honest communication about dying, including a story of a woman with recurring cancer who pursued a third major surgery before choosing hospice and dying days later, highlighting "chasing normal" and the limits of prognostic estimates. Gina describes hospice as support for living with comfort and dignity, outlines palliative care versus hospice, and explains how Marisol trains staff through in-services, role playing, interdisciplinary visits, and certification.

00:00 Welcome and Disclaimer

00:29 Meet Host Marie

00:45 Introducing Gina Harris MSN, MSQT

02:11 Gina's Nursing Journey

04:09 Why Hospice Matters

06:05 Coaching Nurses to Talk

08:29 Chasing Normal Story

13:42 Hard Truths and Hospice

18:21 Hospice Is About Living

20:23 Palliative vs Hospice Care

23:32 Training Staff for Truth

26:44 Hospice as a Choice