Palliative CARES: SHA values at the heart of Pasqua unit
The palliative care team at the Pasqua Hospital in Regina is located on a small nine-bed unit, but they make a big impact.
“As staff, our philosophy is that palliative care is about living, even at the end-of-life stage,” said Shannon Goldstone, palliative care nurse on the unit. “There is definitely sadness, but there is also a lot of laughter and joy. It really is about doing what we can to honour and celebrate our patients’ lives.”
Going the extra mile is the standard here. They planned a wedding on the unit to ensure a father was able to walk his daughter down the aisle, and organized a last visit with a patient’s horses. Compassion, the first of the SHA’s CARES values, is the backbone of their work.
“To me, compassion means that every day you go to work on the unit, you think about how can make today better for your patients,” says Shannon. “The staff are incredible and always band together to support each other and think outside the box for how we can best support our patients and their loved ones.”
Horses from Dallas Valley Ranch visited a patient on the palliative care unit at Pasqua Hospital.