Serenity Palliative and Hospice Care Joins Easley Chamber of Commerce
Pictured above L to R are Susan Linsley (Endless Ideas), Glenda Baumgarner, Suzanne Stegall, Pamela Davis-Director of Nursing, Karen Leigh, Jane Barker, Kent Dykes (Pres. Easley Chamber) and Michael Dent (Allstate Insurance)
Recently Serenity Palliative and Hospice Care celebrated their opening at 838 L Powdersville Road, Easley, 864-859-7300, with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Serenity Palliative and Hospice Care offers home services for those patients who are approaching the end of life. We are directed by local physicians. Like most hospices, we support the patient and family with home visits by a registered nurse, certified nursing assistant, social worker, and chaplain.
The RN is an expert in assessments and interventions. She makes weekly visits: taking vital signs, monitoring the patient’s symptoms and family concerns, teaching the caregiver how to carry out his/her role in making the patient comfortable and safe through many techniques, including effective medication administration. She keeps the patient’s physician informed through weekly reports. She is on call 24/7 for patient/family concerns or emergencies. The CNA is available from 1-7 days a week. She bathes the patient and can prepare a simple meal or perform light housekeeping chores.
The social worker links the family to the financial resources available in the community and assists them in completing applications for these services. Additionally, she can assist the family in making arrangements for placement in Assisted Living or Skilled Nursing facilities.
The Chaplain is available for spiritual support, moral support, counseling, or just listening. He/she is available to perform funerals or memorial services and for bereavement counseling for the family for 13 months following a death. We provide all medications related to the hospice diagnosis and comfort care, as well as any necessary medical equipment at no cost to the patient. But much more than all this, we at Serenity take care of our families as though we were a part of the family.
Recently we assisted a family improve their quality of living by obtaining affordable pest control. We purchased smoke detectors for another family. We have sat with patients to allow caregivers a much-needed break or a chance to run errands. We have run errands, delivered prescriptions and picked up medications. However, we offer a Palliative Care that is unique to Serenity. In this program we take patients who are not yet considered terminal, or patients who want to continue with aggressive treatment.
Hospice is not compatible with curative treatment because of the very nature of the organization. Palliative, however, is related to keeping symptoms under control. Both strive for the best quality of life for the patient and his family during this difficult and stressful time. The Palliative care is completely free. We have been able to give so much support to families that do not know where to turn. We are proud to be serving Pickens and the surrounding counties.
