Inspirational Stories

The Hub of the Hospice

Gisela Taylor is one of a team of three housekeepers at the North Shore Hospice

Gisela Taylor is one of a team of three housekeepers at the North Shore Hospice. Caring and dedicated, Gisela is responsible for designing and cooking meals for the patients with the help of some thirty volunteers.

Gisela Taylor is one of a team of three housekeepers at the North Shore Hospice.

‘We have a completely different attitude from the hospitals,’ says Gisela. ‘The kitchen is the hub of the unit, where the food is prepared, but more importantly where people can come and talk. Our kitchen is accessible to all the families and we find especially after 5pm, people come into the kitchen and often want to talk to someone who is one step removed from the nurses. And there we are working with pots and pans representing some sort of normality. Just like at home where often the best conversations happen in the kitchen, people come and make a cup of tea and twenty minutes later they are still there talking.’

Gisela is a professional nurse who changed over to work in the dietary area and believes her dual background is a great benefit in her work. ‘Empowerment’ and ‘choice’ are two words that pepper her speech when talking about the role of the kitchen at the hospice.

‘We give our patients choices of what they want to eat and when they want to eat. This is very important as by the time they get to us they don’t have many life choices left.’

When a patient is first admitted, Gisela spends time with them making up a list of their likes and dislikes. ‘That way we won’t offer them fish if fish is their pet hate.’

Gisela usually offers the patients three choices for all meals. ‘And if they don’t like any of those we go to choices four, five and six. I have been here seven years and it is only once or twice that we haven’t found something they liked.’

All meals are carefully planned. ‘I have to think laterally because the food has to be soft, appetizing and tasty but not too spicy. I often try to put myself in a patient’s shoes to think whether a meal would work. If I had an upset tummy would I want a curry? No. So perhaps shepherd’s pie would be a good choice instead.’

Scientific research backs up the high calorie meals that Gisela produces. ‘In our society everything is low fat and you can’t eat this and you shouldn’t eat that. At the Hospice we are just the opposite because once a person is terminally ill they derive their energy from fat. So all our food is high calorie and cooked with a lot of cream and butter. Everything that is normally a no-no they have to have because if we gave them a low fat diet they wouldn’t get any energy from it. And it is a real pleasure to cook these nice yummy things.’

Another challenge for Gisela is cooking different ethnic food for the patients. ‘For example, how do you do an Asian stir fry with veges that will be soft enough for the patients to eat? We have learnt to cook many different styles of food and this has been very successful and popular with the patients.’ ‘It is also very important that all the meals are minute. For instance we talk in measurements of a tablespoon of mashed potatoes, a teaspoon of meat or a teaspoon of ice cream.’

All meals are beautifully presented. ‘We try to create a home atmosphere. So each tray will have a nice starched tablecloth with some flowers, even a glass of wine if they want.’

Special occasions are always noted and Gisela makes sure that birthdays, anniversaries, and events such as Mother’s Day are all celebrated in style. ‘We even have a drinks trolley for patients to enjoy.’

Gisela always tries to tempt the appetites of patients and ‘work a little bit of Hospice magic,’ but in some cases patients do not want to eat and that is okay too. In these situations Gisela spends time talking to the families, explaining that when a person is dying their body begins to shut down and they don’t need to eat or drink. Families are reassured to know their loved one is not starving.

There are currently beds for nine in-patients at the hospice, but it is a busy role cooking individual meals for each and often Gisela is juggling six or seven meals at once. She wouldn’t be able to do her job if it wasn’t for volunteers and with the opening of the new fourteen bed In Patient Unit her job is only going to get busier.

‘The volunteers are very dedicated. We have a roster and I don’t need to chase them, they are always on time. The shift is two to three hours - it is a real commitment for them to come each week. I have learnt to use them in different ways instead of trying to do everything myself. And I know if a patient wants to talk to me then I can because I have backup in the kitchen.’

‘I do all the cooking. The volunteers change the water jugs, give out the meals, help prepare vegetables and do the dishes. A very important part of their work is to spend some time with the patients and talk to them. The dishes in the kitchen can always wait. We train our volunteers very carefully. Our view is that we have to empower dying patients.’

‘Volunteers often come back from a patient with important feedback. For example, the other day a volunteer was talking to a patient and he mentioned that while he liked being in Hospice he really missed the lovely garden he had at home. At this stage he was in a room that didn’t have a garden view. The Hospice was really busy that day, but after talking to the nurses they made the time to move him to a room overlooking the garden. He was very happy about this and it was great that he could enjoy his last few days being able to enjoy our beautiful garden. If that volunteer hadn’t talked to that patient and mentioned it to me, then it would never have come up. This has happened often.’

Gisela gets a great deal of satisfaction from her role. ‘Sometimes patients can die fairly suddenly so I’ve got the satisfaction of knowing that they really enjoyed their last meal. Or the satisfaction of the family saying it’s so nice to see Mum or Dad eating a bit.’

‘I know the volunteers get a great deal of satisfaction also. Volunteers do the job because they want to make a difference – and that they most certainly do.’