The Heart of Hospice: A Conversation with Eddie Davis (Ep 102)
Kelly introduces Eddie Davis, volunteer coordinator for Gentiva Hospice, sharing how a chance conversation with a longtime hospice nurse and a library bulletin-board flyer led her to start volunteering. Eddie recounts his path from minister to hospice chaplain and now volunteer coordinator, explaining hospice as comfort care and symptom management delivered by an interdisciplinary team, including volunteers, for patients of all ages. They discuss why volunteers matter, the challenge of recruiting across a 50-mile radius, and the value of matching patients and volunteers by comfort and connection, not just age. Eddie and Kelly explore the emotional rewards and grief challenges of hospice work, healthy supports like faith, family, and team care, and the importance of respecting each patient’s spirituality. Eddie shares a powerful veteran send-off story and invites listeners nationwide to volunteer through Gentiva’s 36-state network.
From the Episode:
- " So many people, when they hear the word hospice, they immediately think, "Oh my goodness, my life's over. I've got one foot in the grave and the other foot in eternity." "
- " Your mind can kind of go to hospice being for elderly, and my first patient was even younger than me, right? And so, then it opened up this whole search for me of saying, "Oh my gosh, there's hospice for pediatrics." "
- " But this is not just what I do, it's who I am."
- " As far as being the most rewarding, to be able to put my head down on a pillow at the end of the day and know that I have been there to help somebody in one of the most difficult seasons in their life, that is the reward for me. "
- " Well, there are lots of things different between us, but we can step over that and provide companionship and connection to somebody that needs a little bit of extra care, and that's really what hospice is all about."
- " S o hospice doesn't just take care of the patient and their family during their illness and their death, but afterward as well."
- " Yeah, I think that it's haunting to believe or to think that we could reach that point in our lives, in our journey where we're lying there on the bed thinking, 'I wished I had,' and then fill in the blank. I wished I'd said such and such to this person, and it's not too late. As long as you're breathing, it's not too late."
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