“I love hospice work. This is what I am good at and what I’d like to continue doing.”
— Kate, Social Worker
Kate joined Minnesota Hospice in January 2021, fresh out of graduate school with a master’s degree in social work.
She knew she wanted to work in healthcare social work and hospice was where she wanted to be. Yet she did not have hospice or hospital experience. Unfortunately, that mattered to a lot of employers.
“I had a ton of rejection letters at that time because people were purely looking for experience,” Kate says.
Minnesota Hospice gave her a chance.
“They acknowledged her lack of experience and said: if you can learn it, we’re really looking for personality and culture fit,” Kate says. “I remember that very vividly.”
Before Kate had her first interview, the team was already showing her how Minnesota Hospice treats people.
The CEO called shortly after she applied, in the evening, on his way home. The chaplain also called before her interview simply to answer questions about the organization.
Those moments gave Kate an early sense of the people she was about to join.
When Kate started, she was the only social worker on the team, and she was nervous. She had never worked in hospice before. There was a lot to learn, and not a lot of social work companionship at the time.
What helped was the kindness and how the team welcomed her in.
“You got to know everyone very quickly, which was really good and helpful as a newbie.”
Kate’s pull toward hospice also came from a personal place.
Her mom was on hospice for less than two weeks when Kate was 17. She remembers the hospital bed being brought into the living room. She remembers family gathering in the house. She remembers the support that helped with the practical pieces of those final days.
But years later, as a social worker, she understood something she could not fully process at 17.
There was emotional support her family did not receive.
“When my mom was on hospice, I never met a social worker or bereavement counselor. That created a desire in me to be a presence in those situations.”
— Kate, Social Worker
That sentence says a lot about Kate.
For Kate, hospice is where families get help with the parts no one feels ready for. She helps families understand what is happening and talk through the inevitable difficult decisions.
They have someone who supports the patient, the caregivers, and the families – who will still need care after a death.
That is the part of hospice Kate wants more people to understand.
Hospice is not just for the patient. It is for the whole family.
She wants patients to know their loved ones will not be left alone to grieve. She wants caregivers to know they do not have to carry the heavy burden and handle everything by themselves. And she wants families to know support does not end the moment hospice care ends.
That is one of the clearest ways to understand the role of hospice social work.
“Hospice can support you in being less of a caregiver and more of a daughter or son or spouse.”
— Kate, Social Worker
It can help a daughter be a daughter again. A spouse be a spouse. A son sit at the bedside without trying to manage every detail alone.
Kate sees that need every day.
That need also shaped the caregiver grief support group Kate founded through Minnesota Hospice. The group has been meeting for three years, and some members have continued supporting each other through grief long after their loved ones have passed.
For Kate, that matters deeply to her.
It reflects what local hospice care should be: people coming together, finding support, and building community through grief.
Families notice that kind of support.
Kate says one compliment she hears often is simple:
“You guys hire well.”
To Kate, that means families can feel the difference across the whole care team, from the first phone call to every visit that follows.
“I have incredibly competent and compassionate co-workers,” Kate says. “The perfect balance.”
— Kate, Social Worker
Families have also told her the Minnesota Hospice team feels like family. Others have said they felt less afraid because of who was in their corner.
That is what Kate hopes hospice can do.
The sadness is still there. The situation is still hard. But families have someone beside them, helping them feel less alone, less afraid, and more supported in what they are facing.
“Throughout the whole process, because of who was in her corner, she never felt afraid.”
— Kate, Social worker, describing feedback from a family she supported
Kate also treasures what she learns from patients themselves.
She has listened to people talk about long marriages, friendships, family, regret, gratitude, and what made their lives feel full. She has seen people surrounded by relatives, neighbors, friends, and their chosen family.
“When you meet people at the end of their life and they have a lot of peace, you can learn what brings that. It’s often just a full life, well lived.”
— Kate, Social Worker
One patient’s wish has stayed with Kate.
A patient had an estranged family member they wanted to reconnect with before death.
The situation was very complicated, and it was hard to know what would happen when they showed up.
The person arrived, the reunion happened, and within minutes, the patient died peacefully.
“Being able to reunite and honor wishes that are so apparent in the dying process, and the peace that gives, that was a really memorable moment.”
— Kate, Social Worker
Five years after joining Minnesota Hospice, Kate says hospice social work is where she is meant to be and what she is good at.
“I love hospice work. I have definitely found that this is what I am good at and what I’d like to continue doing.”
— Kate, Social Worker
“I feel very calm and content here right now.”
— Kate, Social Worker
Kate says she has always felt comfortable, safe, and known at Minnesota Hospice. She feels heard. She feels her experience has value. She feels like she can continue help shaping things as the organization continues to grow.
For Kate, Minnesota Hospice is a place where staff members are chosen carefully, supported well, and trusted to bring their full heart to families.
And for the families she serves, Kate has become exactly what she once wished had been there for her.
A presence in those situations.
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