Bereavement Coordinator

Position Summary

A hospice bereavement coordinator works with families who have a loved one in hospice or have lost a loved one who was under hospice care. Your job in this career is to help them deal with the grief they feel about their loved one's death or diagnosis. Coping with a terminally ill family member requires extra support, both for the patients and their families, so hospice bereavement coordinators help to set up support groups. You may also recommend and sometimes help out with therapy, coordinate visits, provide emotional support, seek out additional programs and referrals for families through social services, and follow-up with families over time to ensure they are coping

Position Responsibilities

• Completes a comprehensive assessment of the physical, emotional, financial, cognitive and social needs of clients.
• Completes a plan of care acceptable to the client and family that includes home safety and falls prevention.
• Provides assistance to patients in gaining access to needed medical, social, educational, and other programs and services as needed.
• Provides ongoing monitoring of the client’s situation to assure that the plan of care meets the individual’s changing needs in order to remain in their home and community of choice for as long as possible.
• Ensures coordination of needed services and adequate follow-up and monitoring.
• Provide community resource information to individuals and families who call or stop by Hospice of Anchorage for assistance and support.
• Provides bereavement, emotional, and social support in accordance with the plan of care and patient/family needs.
• Manage and develop grief group processes with family/staff for patients/family members/community members (as feasible) and logistics, in conjunction with approval of Clinical Director.
• Gives educational presentations and trainings to both volunteers and general community members about a wide range of grief and end of life topics.
• Coordinate with volunteers and staff to ensure that bereavement calls are made in a timely manner and that bereavement mailings get sent out to the appropriate families.

Position Qualifications

• Minimum one full year paid work experience providing direct social services.
• Knowledge of community resources for elders, disability, chronic and acute medical care, housing, long-term care, and other local and national supportive services and resources including entitlement programs.
• Knowledge of organization and functions of hospice programs. Knowledge of, and commitment to, the mission of Hospice, and a willingness to function as part of the Hospice team.
• Working knowledge or ability to learn the of laws, rules, regulations, and precedents governing Hospice of Anchorage services and activities. 6. Knowledge of community resources for elders, disability, chronic and acute medical care, housing, long-term care, and other local and national supportive services and resources including entitlement programs.
• Ability to assess treatment needs of individuals who experience physical, cognitive and/or intellectual disabilities.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills and demonstrated ability with personal computers.
• Must have clearance from a background check with fingerprinting upon employment beginning.
• If professionally licensed, must maintain licensing and provide licensing proof for the employee file.
• Must maintain and provide proof of CPR and First Aid Training

Certificates and Licenses

• Valid Driver’s License
• Current auto insurance verification
• AHA BLS Certification

Patient Rights

Promotes and protects patients’ rights; treats patients with dignity and respect; reports suspected abuse or neglect.

Leadership

Demonstrates willingness to try new tasks; generates new ideas for change; evaluates and recognizes priorities; communicates and models organizational values; fosters high performance; recognizes need for and provides adequate resources.

Process Improvement

Applies process improvement methods and techniques; assists in data collection; identifies processes for improvement in daily work; and assists in education of new employees in the team process.

Environment Of Care

Demonstrates understanding of fire and emergency procedures; participates in fire and disaster drills; demonstrates understanding of safety and security procedures; applies safety and security precautions; demonstrates understanding of hazardous materials plan; demonstrates proper use of equipment.

Infection Control

Applies hand-washing principles during daily work; demonstrates understanding of isolation precautions; recognizes signs and symptoms of infection and complies with the employee health program; demonstrates understanding of the process for identifying and handling infectious waste; maintains personal hygiene; complies with OSHA standards in the workplace; and demonstrates understanding of cross-contamination.

Information Management

Enters or records data timely and accurately; protects confidentiality of patient information; protects data against loss or destruction; reports suspected violation of security/confidentiality issues.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

English is the primary language of the facility. Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of executives, managers, clients, customers, and the public.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions and decimals.

REASONING ABILITY

Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instruction furnished in written, oral and/or diagram form. Ability to define and solve problems, interpret data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions.

COMPUTER SKILLS

To perform this job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of word processing software and spreadsheet software as well as Point of Care systems. Must also have experience with internet and email systems.