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Joyce Brookman believes in the power of prayer. Since most of her patients have less than six months to live, she often has opportunities to put her belief in that power to good use.
“I don’t push my religion,” Brookman said, referring to the Pentecostal faith she holds dear to her heart. “If a patient says they don’t want to pray, I just let it go. But I ask and most people say yes. And I’ll hold their hand.”
The hands Brookman clasps in supplication usually belong to the chronically and terminally ill patients in the Hospice of Virginia in Henrico, where she has worked as a nurse for nearly two years. The most common conditions hospice patients like Brookman’s bear include stroke, dementia, HIV and cancer. Lou Gehrig’s disease — an affliction that devastates movement-controlling nerve cells, which paralyzed the late physicist Stephen Hawking — is also common in hospice patients, according to the Hospice of Virginia website.
Brookman, a Richmond-area native who lives in Mechanicsville, has worked in patient care for 25 years. Inspired to enter the field by her grandmother and aunt, she worked her way from a certified nursing assistant to a registered nurse and finally to a licensed practical nurse. Now, as a case management nurse at the hospice, her responsibility is to build a rapport with patients and their families to best ensure that the patient dies as harmoniously as possible.
“I look at my patients and think about how I want to be treated when I pass — with respect and comfort,” Brookman said.
Besides giving a patient proper medication, this is best achieved by spending time with them and establishing firm relationships, she said.
“I go out and visit my patients and talk with them about death and how they can pass peacefully without being in pain,” Brookman said. “I also teach the families how to give them medicine and how to take care of them until the end.”
Patients’ families may resist putting their loved ones in hospice care, she said. Just last month, one of her patients, a 102-year-old woman, told her family that she was ready “to go to sleep” — but the family would have none of it. Reluctant families usually come around after measured and compassionate persuasion like this one did, Brookman said.
Of all the cases she’s worked with, one sticks out in Brookman’s mind. The patient had a particularly harrowing condition that caused him to bleed effusively, and both Brookman and the patient’s family were afraid that he would painfully vomit blood as he died. While that ultimately didn’t happen, it was important for her to be with the patient’s family to provide comfort in case it did, Brookman said.
“From one Friday to the next, until he died, I stayed with the family for almost 24 hours a day,” Brookman said. “We had people fill in, but most of the time I was there to make sure he was okay and that it didn’t scare his family. He was very comfortable when he went.”
Brookman’s dedication to service has not gone unnoticed. Huy Ho, a medical social worker at the Hospice of Virginia who started working there at about the same time as Brookman, said she stands out in her field.
“It takes a special nurse to work in hospice and understand the care that patients need at this point in their lives,” Ho said. “And I think what makes Joyce special is that she sees people as people, and not a symptom or a diagnosis. She cares about each and every one of them, and she treats them and their families with respect. She really becomes part of the lives of the patients and their families.”
As a social worker, Ho said, he often attends events put on by Blilely’s Funeral Homes, which operates in three locations in the Richmond area. At one such event, he heard about an award that the funeral home would be giving out to end-of-life caregivers, called Bliley’s Outstanding Caregiver Award. To be considered, a caregiver must work at a hospice, hospital or facility and be nominated by a resident, relative, coworker or volunteer. Bliley’s Outreach Committee selects winners.
Ho jumped at the opportunity to enter Brookman’s name.
“I immediately thought that Joyce would be a good candidate for it,” he said. “So I submitted the nomination.”
Bliley Funeral Homes started the recognition program just more than a year ago to recognize exceptional caregivers who benefit the lives of the people they work with, said M. Carey Bliley, the company’s CEO and president.
“Bereavement and hospice is a lot of tough work,” Bliley said. “It requires a lot of sacrifices and long hours to help people in need. We hear from so many families about what an excellent level of care for their loved one does for them. We thought the award would be a great way to honor people who aren’t normally honored in the community.”
Award recipients receive a $100 Visa gift card, a certificate and recognition on Bliley’s official Facebook page, according to the funeral home’s website.
In recognition of Brookman’s devotion to patient care, the committee selected Brookman as one of the award’s winners.
Elda Wilson, who works at Hospice Community Care in Glen Allen, was among eight other caregivers from the Richmond area honored.
Wilson, a 31-year veteran of the nursing field, takes extra steps to ensure that hospice patients are contented — including tailoring music playlists to their likings and ensuring that their clothes match, their nails are immaculate and that their makeup looks fresh.
Between doting on patients and training new CNAs, Wilson stays busy in her job. However, this hasn’t stopped her from putting in extra time when she feels it’s necessary. The nomination for her Blilely award described her commitment to her patients, their families and her coworkers as “unparalleled.”
“Frequently, when staffing was short because of illness or emergencies, Elda has selflessly canceled her own vacation time and come in to make sure that the patients are covered and the care is never compromised,” the nomination read. “She is fastidious about maintaining their dignity and individuality.”
“She really cares about others and every single patient she touched has become part of her life,” said Robin Southall, Wilson’s supervisor at Hospice Community Care. “She’s awesome. I couldn’t think of anyone more deserving for this award.”
In addition to the gift cards and certificates, Wilson and Brookman were honored at Bliley Funeral Homes’s first annual Caregiver Awards dinner on Friday. At the event, they were given a chance to win $250 in cash as well as a $250 donation for the family support room at the facility of their choice.
“We wanted to host an annual dinner to acknowledge everybody and give them a chance to be recognized by their family, friends and peers,” Bliley said.
