By JOLENE OGLE
This week we highlight the great work of the staff and volunteers at the Katie Rose Cottage community hospice. The palliative care facility is a home away from home where terminally ill people can spend their last days in comfort.
Holding the hand of the dying isn’t something everyone would be able to do, but for the staff and volunteers at Katie Rose Cottage, it’s their job and passion.
Since opening in 2010, more than 200 people have died at the Doonan community hospice, but the staff and volunteers will tell you there is nothing morbid about Katie Rose.
“The hospice is a home away from home,” hospice president Frank Lewins said.
“There is actually a lot of life here.”
Perhaps, the most unexpected thing about the hospice is the calm and relaxed atmosphere of the palliative care facility, while one would expect a clinical environment the six rooms are actually surrounded by lush gardens and inviting spaces to sit and relax in the sun.
“We do things differently here,” Frank said. “Friends and family can drop in and see their loved one whenever they like and they can bring the family dog, every room has a view of the gardens and we have a kitchen where guests can make their own meals at any time, if they like.”
Frank compares the facility to an iceberg where the relaxed atmosphere is only the tip, and below lies a sound clinical basis for the facility to provide top-level care to the guests.
“The care is never compromised because this isn’t a hospital,” he said.
Since opening its doors almost five years ago, the facility has relied solely on the generous support of donations, the hard work of volunteers and only a handful of paid staff.
Executive officer John Bartsch said the hospice’s financial situation was always “precarious” with such a strong reliance on donations and the care facility run at no cost to guests, but four second hand stores throughout the Sunshine Coast helped provide over 60 per cent of the centre’s funding.
“But we always need more, and we will gladly accept any donations,” he said. “We always say a dollar today is a dollar we didn’t have yesterday.”
Former midwife Susan Musgrove is the centre’s palliative care nurse and one of only a handful of paid staff.
In a move that was “inexplicable” for Susan, she decided to move from midwifery into the field of palliative care when she returned to the workforce after raising her children.
“There are actually a lot of parallels between the two professions, although on the surface they look poles apart,” she said.
“In actual fact they’re very closely connected because they are both critical events in people’s lives and their family’s life.”
For Susan, the opportunity to help guests and their families through the often traumatic time of death is what keeps her going.
“As a palliative care nurse, you can help facilitate a better journey to death,” she said.
“My job is 99 per cent communication. It’s incredibly rewarding, but it does affect you and you have to be aware of that.
“You have to make sure you have time out and realise its OK to be affected and its OK to have feelings and need to have a moment to yourself after a particularly difficult period or attachment has occurred.
“You can’t just be completely emotionless about it, and I’ve always said when someone tells me I am then it’s time to decide to do something else.”
It’s with thanks to the hard work of people like Susan that members of the Noosa community have a place to go when they can spend their final days in comfort and it’s because of the dedicated and hardworking volunteers and staff that we name Katie Rose Hospice as The Noosa Project’s unsung heroes.
If you would like to donate to the Katie Rose Cottage hospice you can phone 5479 0881 or visit www.sunshinehospice.org.au/donations to find out more.
The Noosa Project is a community-driven initiative that aims to celebrate the unsung heroes of our community. If you know someone or a group of locals who are achieving great things for our community then we would love to hear from you. You can email newsdesk@noosatoday.net.au
