Continuum Care Hospice

05/29/2026

🧠 There is not just one type of dementia.

Many people are surprised to learn that “dementia” is actually an umbrella term describing changes in memory, thinking, behavior, language, and daily functioning caused by different diseases affecting the brain.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common, but there are many others, including:
• Vascular Dementia
• Lewy Body Dementia
• Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD)
• Parkinson’s Disease Dementia
• Mixed Dementia
• Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH)
• Traumatic Brain Injury Dementia
• Huntington’s Disease
• Alcohol-Related Dementia

Each type affects the brain differently.
Each has unique symptoms.
Each journey is different.

Some dementias begin with memory loss.
Others begin with personality changes, hallucinations, movement changes, poor judgment, or language difficulties.

That is why understanding the “why” behind behaviors matters so much in dementia care.

Over the next days and weeks, we are going to take these one at a time and explain them in simple, compassionate, easy-to-understand language for care partners and families.

We will talk about:
🧠 What causes them
🧠 Early signs
🧠 How the brain changes
🧠 Behaviors you may see
🧠 Communication tips
🧠 Home safety
🧠 What helps the nervous system feel safe
🧠 How to support the person with dignity and love

Knowledge reduces fear.
Understanding changes everything.

No caregiver should feel alone trying to navigate this journey. ❤️

Follow along as we learn together, one dementia at a time.

caregiversupport

05/27/2026

05/25/2026

Memorial Day is a special day dedicated to remembering all the fallen American heroes who served our country. From everyone at Continuum Care Hospice, we hope everyone can take a moment to remember and honor their sacrifice, and we hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday.

Fallen, but not forgotten

Please check us out at our website at https://continuumcarehospiceohio.com/

05/21/2026

💔 What CPR Really Means for Frail Elderly Patients

When families say, “Do everything,” they often mean, “Please don’t let them die.” That love is real. But CPR in a frail elderly body is not like what we see on TV.

For someone who is 90, weak, losing weight, living with dementia, heart failure, advanced lung disease, or cancer, CPR may involve forceful chest compressions, broken ribs, electric shocks, a breathing tube, a ventilator, ICU care, and possible prolonged suffering.

Research shows survival after CPR decreases with advanced age, frailty, and multiple chronic illnesses. Frailty is strongly linked to higher mortality after in-hospital CPR, and survival to discharge in very old adults is often low(PMC). And survival does not always mean recovery.

Some patients never return to their previous level of function. Some may need long-term ventilation, feeding tubes, or experience serious neurological injury.

This conversation is not about giving up. It is about informed consent. It is about asking:

Would this person want aggressive treatment if it meant more suffering and less quality of life?

Sometimes “doing everything” means aggressive intervention., but at times it can also means comfort, dignity, peace, and allowing a natural death.

As a hospice NP, I have walked beside many families during this decision. The most important question is not only, “Can we?” It is, “Would they want this?”

Have you had this conversation with your family?

💙 Don’t walk this journey alone.

Follow for compassionate, evidence-based hospice and end-of-life education:

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Facebook: The Hospice NP

Together, we replace fear with understanding.

05/16/2026

Taking Care of You: How to Avoid Burnout as a Hospice Nurse

Hospice nursing is deeply meaningful work, but it can also be emotionally, physically, and spiritually exhausting. Constant caregiving, grief exposure, long hours, and carrying the weight of difficult conversations can slowly lead to burnout if nurses do not intentionally care for themselves too.

Burnout does not mean you are weak.
It often means you have been strong for too long without enough restoration.

Here are some healthy ways hospice nurses can protect their well-being while continuing to provide compassionate care:

1. Set Emotional Boundaries

Caring deeply does not mean carrying every loss home. Compassion is important, but emotional boundaries help protect your mental health and prevent compassion fatigue.

2. Rest Without Guilt

Sleep, hydration, nutrition, movement, and days off are not luxuries. They are essential. A depleted nurse cannot continue pouring into others effectively.

3. Debrief Difficult Cases

Talk with trusted coworkers, mentors, counselors, or spiritual support after emotionally difficult deaths or traumatic situations. Processing grief matters.

4. Recognize the Signs Early

Burnout may look like irritability, emotional numbness, exhaustion, dread before work, poor concentration, or feeling disconnected from patients and families.

5. Protect Your Personal Life

Spend time with family, hobbies, faith, nature, music, exercise, gardening, or anything that reminds you there is still life outside of work.

6. Remember You Cannot Save Everyone

Hospice is not about “fixing” death. It is about providing comfort, dignity, education, and presence during one of life’s most sacred transitions.

7. Accept Support Yourself

Nurses are often the worst at asking for help. Counseling, peer support, therapy, prayer, mentorship, and employee wellness resources are signs of strength, not failure.

8. Celebrate the Meaning in the Work

Even during heartbreak, hospice nurses provide peace, comfort, advocacy, symptom relief, and human connection that families remember forever.

Research shows burnout and compassion fatigue are common among hospice and palliative nurses, especially when emotional demands are high and self-care is neglected (American Nurses Association; HPNA; National Academy of Medicine).

Taking care of yourself is not selfish. It is part of safe, compassionate patient care.

The Hospice NP 💙
Caregiver Support, Comfort, Clarity

05/16/2026

05/10/2026

From everyone at Continuum Care Hospice, we would like to take a moment to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all of the mom's and mom figures out there and to take a moment to remember the one's that might not physically be here with us anymore but live on with us in our hearts.

Happy Mother's Day!

Please check us out at our website at https://continuumcarehospiceohio.com/

05/06/2026

Continuum Care Hospice would like to send a big THANK YOU to our nurses for all their care and dedication. Your impact is immeasurable but certainly felt by your patients and co-workers alike.

10/07/2025

Final Gifts by Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley is a book I recommend for anyone wanting to better understand what can happen at the end of life. Written by two hospice nurses, it shares stories from the bedsides of dying people and reveals the profound messages, wisdom, and experiences that can arise in those final days. It’s compassionate, practical, and beautifully written — a powerful resource for anyone walking alongside the dying.