Hannah Dahlke always knew she wanted to care for other people.
She became a nurse in January 2017 with Aspirus and started on the Post-Surgical Care Unit.
“When I was in nursing school, I always wanted to care for people, but I wasn’t getting much satisfaction from the surgery life,” said Hannah.
Then, a significant moment in her life led her to a change.
“When my grandpa passed away, he was in hospice care,” said Hannah. “I decided I wanted to move into this type of care after seeing how well the nurses and staff treated my grandfather.”
November is Home Care & Hospice Month. Aspirus honors the nurses, home care aides, therapists, and social workers who make a remarkable difference for the patients and families they serve during this recognition month.
Hannah works at the Hospice House in Wausau three days a week where she spends time caring for people that are there for varying periods of time.
“We have patients here months, weeks or days,” says Hannah. “It doesn’t matter how long a patient is with us, they are all equally as important to us as a hospice team.”
Patients, family members and loved ones put all their trust into the hospice staff at the most vulnerable time in their life.
“Those interactions to me are very rewarding,” says Hannah. “Families trust us to assist them in that grieving process and they’re very grateful for that.”
Hospice services such as the care Hannah and the team at the Hospice House provides helps the patient as well as the family.
“I always tell families that don’t’ know much about end-of-life care, that we are here to assist their family members with end of their journey,” says Hannah. “It’s not always sad, we are here to make the end of the journey as easy as can be.”
One can learn more about Aspirus hospice services at aspirus.org/hospice-services.