Harmon Kilebrew is a retired baseball player who holds a record with Babe Ruth for hitting more than 40 home runs in eight seasons. While with the Minnesota Twins, he won the American League MVP award and set a wide variety of team and league records. After retirement, he became an advocate for child involvement in baseball and bringing assistance to sports programs in low income neighborhoods.
Sadly, Kilebrew recently announced that he will no longer pursue treatment for the esophageal cancer that has plagued his life in recent years.
The baseball legend, in his statement, gave powerful testimony to the value, service, and importance of hospice care: "I have spent the past decade of my life promoting hospice care and educating people on its benefits. I am very comfortable taking this next step and experiencing the compassionate care that hospice provides."
The comfort that hospice care gives is not limited to basbeball hall of famers. It is available to every human being, regardless of income level. Quality and universal care is the goal, promise, and mission of Blue Skies. Please call for more information if you or a loved one is in need: (219) 554 - 0688.
May 20, 2011
Meet Blue Skies Hospice Director, Lisa Guzman
Lisa Guzman is the director of Blue Skies Hospice. She recently answered questions about her background in and beliefs about health and hospice care.
What is your background in health care?
I have been an RN since 1986. I worked at South Chicago Community Hospital for 10 years and then worked in home health and hospice. I then became an Advanced Practice Hospice and Oncology Nurse with a Masters degree in Nursing from Purdue in 2000. I am currently working on my Doctorate degree in nursing with a focus on oncology.
Why did you choose to start your own hospice organization?
I founded Blue SKies Hospice to provide care to the terminaly ill patient allowing a more holistic approach and treatment plan. I worked for other hospice companies in the past and found that holistic treatment was missing.
What makes hospice so important and what should people understand about hospice?
Hospice is important because it offers the patient and their families choices. Many patients do not want to undergo invasive procedures or go though the side effects of treatments if there is no chance for a cure. They would rather have the choice of quality of life and we can offer them that.
Why Blue Skies a great organization for patients and families? What is the philosophy of Blue Skies?
Blue Skies Hospice is a great organization for patients and families because our philosophy is that each patient recieves individualized holistic care regardless of race or financial status. We also allow patients to be enrolled in hospice and stay on all of their current medications, treat infections, and have feeding tubes if they choose to. We provide care from nurses, chaplains, social workers, volunteers and home health aides and also offer alternative treatments such as reflexology and reiki therapy should the patient be interested in that. When we admit a patient they become a part of our family. All of our staff regard hospice work as a calling, not a job.
What do you have planned for the future of Blue Skies?
In the future, Blue Skies Hospice wants to remain small. We think that the nurse to patient ratio is very important and we never want to lose the personal touch that we give to all of our clients and their families. Our goals in the future do include helping our community in any way that we can, whether that is letting businesses use our facilities in times of need as we did during the flooding in Munster, donating to local causes or continuing to take on charity cases for those less fortunate and unable to afford care.
What is your background in health care?
I have been an RN since 1986. I worked at South Chicago Community Hospital for 10 years and then worked in home health and hospice. I then became an Advanced Practice Hospice and Oncology Nurse with a Masters degree in Nursing from Purdue in 2000. I am currently working on my Doctorate degree in nursing with a focus on oncology.
Why did you choose to start your own hospice organization?
I founded Blue SKies Hospice to provide care to the terminaly ill patient allowing a more holistic approach and treatment plan. I worked for other hospice companies in the past and found that holistic treatment was missing.
What makes hospice so important and what should people understand about hospice?
Hospice is important because it offers the patient and their families choices. Many patients do not want to undergo invasive procedures or go though the side effects of treatments if there is no chance for a cure. They would rather have the choice of quality of life and we can offer them that.
Why Blue Skies a great organization for patients and families? What is the philosophy of Blue Skies?
Blue Skies Hospice is a great organization for patients and families because our philosophy is that each patient recieves individualized holistic care regardless of race or financial status. We also allow patients to be enrolled in hospice and stay on all of their current medications, treat infections, and have feeding tubes if they choose to. We provide care from nurses, chaplains, social workers, volunteers and home health aides and also offer alternative treatments such as reflexology and reiki therapy should the patient be interested in that. When we admit a patient they become a part of our family. All of our staff regard hospice work as a calling, not a job.
What do you have planned for the future of Blue Skies?
In the future, Blue Skies Hospice wants to remain small. We think that the nurse to patient ratio is very important and we never want to lose the personal touch that we give to all of our clients and their families. Our goals in the future do include helping our community in any way that we can, whether that is letting businesses use our facilities in times of need as we did during the flooding in Munster, donating to local causes or continuing to take on charity cases for those less fortunate and unable to afford care.
May 5, 2011
National Nurses Week
The nurses on staff at Blue Skies Hospice are an essential and wonderful part of the team. They are dedicated to using their education, expertise, and experience to provide loving care, tender support, and effective treatment to the Blue Skies Hospice patients. Families can be confident and comfortable that their loved ones are in caring and competent hands at Blue Skies.
It is for this reason, along with gratitude to nurses everywhere, that we take a moment to celebrate National Nurses Week. The current campaign, "Trusted to Care", gives the following information and insight:
National Nurses Week 2011 Nurses Trusted to Care
Often described as an art and a science, nursing is a profession that embraces dedicated people with varied interests, strengths and passions because of the many opportunities the profession offers. As nurses, we work in emergency rooms, school based clinics, and homeless shelters, to name a few. We have many roles – from staff nurse to educator to nurse practitioner and nurse researcher – and serve all of them with passion for the profession and with a strong commitment to patient safety.
Background
National Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6, also known as National Nurses Day, through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.
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Thank you to the Blue Skies nurses, who the patients and their families trust to care: Lisa Guzman RN, Amy Mosoriak RN, Karen Lansdowne RN, Arlene Bakota RN, Carol Newman RN.
It is for this reason, along with gratitude to nurses everywhere, that we take a moment to celebrate National Nurses Week. The current campaign, "Trusted to Care", gives the following information and insight:
National Nurses Week 2011 Nurses Trusted to Care
Often described as an art and a science, nursing is a profession that embraces dedicated people with varied interests, strengths and passions because of the many opportunities the profession offers. As nurses, we work in emergency rooms, school based clinics, and homeless shelters, to name a few. We have many roles – from staff nurse to educator to nurse practitioner and nurse researcher – and serve all of them with passion for the profession and with a strong commitment to patient safety.
Background
National Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6, also known as National Nurses Day, through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.
----
Thank you to the Blue Skies nurses, who the patients and their families trust to care: Lisa Guzman RN, Amy Mosoriak RN, Karen Lansdowne RN, Arlene Bakota RN, Carol Newman RN.
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