Melissa Estep, Hospice aide at Zusman Hospice
Sometimes there is someone who works in hospice who understands the value of the Hospice Caregiver Award program and what a difference it can make to those who are nominated, and especially to those who win the monthly recognition award. Rebecca Sears is one of those people. She nominated Melissa Estep and when we called her to let her know that Melissa had been selected as the November winner, she knew exactly what to do.
How wonderful it is to recognize so many amazing caregivers.
Here is what Rebecca had to say about Melissa:
Melissa Estep is an amazing aide with Zusman Hospice. While all of our aides are amazing, Melissa goes above and beyond in her work for hospice. She loves and cares for each patient like they are her own mother or father. When they are not doing well, she worries about them.
She often is in the dining room feeding her assigned hospice patients and interacts with the other residents. When she notices decline or a change in a resident and feels they may benefit from hospice, she lets appropriate staff know. She has done this several times.
Another way Melissa has gone above and beyond just happened last week. She was with a hospice patient and noticed a rapid decline;, she never left her side as she communicated with the team and facility the changes she saw. The patient passed quickly, and Melissa stayed with her making sure she did not pass alone, while the nurse made her way there.
She is flexible and always puts others before herself. Whenever there is a need to help a coworker with a patient assignment she goes. Again, just this past week we had no one to cover an assignment and Melissa made arrangements in order to provide care to these patients on top of her own assignment. She loves welcoming new aides to our team and takes them under her wing. She makes sure she checks on them once they are out of orientation and is always available to answer questions and help with documentation questions. She has a positive “can do” attitude that helps the new aide feel welcomed and valued. Melissa never complains about training new staff. One recent new aide stated how grateful she was for Melissa and how helpful she has been checking on her to make sure she feels supported.
Melissa finds a way to connect with her patients. This could mean taking them outside on a sunny day, helping them with their house plants that brings them so much joy or even bringing in fried chicken weekly for a patient who did not have a lot of visitors. It was the highlight of his week each week.
She had another patient who was unable to consistently attend weekly shabbat services due to how busy the facility staff were. He was feeling isolated and left out. Melissa rearranged her schedule to come in a little later every Friday so she could be there to take him to the service.
Lastly, she recently volunteered to participate in the fashion show for a nursing home and collected items such as dresses and accessories for her hospice patients. She worked with each of her patients who wanted to participate on picking out the best dress and accessories to match their personality. She spent extra time helping them with hair and makeup to make them feel beautiful. She then was there to help them “wheel” down the red carpet at the event. The patients smiles outshined the jewelry they were wearing. We are very grateful to have Melissa on our team.
Congratulations Melissa. You truly exemplify what it means to be a Hospice Caregiver.
If you know someone like Melissa who deserves recognition as an amazing caregiver, visit our website at https://www.thecaregivingtree.com/hospice-caregiver-award. It takes just a few minutes to tell their story.