Terri Gross Reflects on 30 Years of Team Building and Compassion in Hospice
For Terri Gross, being a teammate at Ohio’s Hospice for 30 years has been a dream come true. She has relished the opportunity to provide superior care and superior services to patients and their families.
Gross has held a variety of positions over her three decades of service. She has been involved in care management and as the director of quality and overseeing our various electronic medical records.
“The most important roles that I’ve had involved figuring out ways to relieve the burden at the bedside so that those at the bedside can do what they do best, take care of our patients and families,” she said.
Gross says she always wanted to be a hospice nurse since starting her nursing career, and personal experiences helped her realize how important end-of-life care is, not just for the patient but also for their family and friends.
Looking back on her 30-year career, Gross recounts many experiences involving the teams that she was a part of. They included wheelchair races, Halloween costume parties, and Interdisciplinary Team (IDT) meetings.
“Mary Murphy, our former executive director and chief nursing officer in Dayton, was my team leader for many years. Anyone who had the privilege of working with Mary knows that her goals for team building and fun typically involved costumes and seasonable foods,” Gross said.
She says that in hospice care, being part of a team means that you have support as you provide care to patients and families.
“You are not alone and can rely on your team to help provide care, direction and suggestions for approaching the various situations that teammates find themselves in,” Gross said. “You also have a team to help you process your own grief as you lose patients, some that you spent significant time with and who all leave a footprint on your heart.”
Gross feels the most enjoyable part about working with Ohio’s Hospice is the many patients, families and teammates she has had the privilege of caring for and working with.
“There is no other area in healthcare that has this team of people working with you to make sure that our patients and families are cared for in the place that they want to be,” Gross said.
Thank you, Terri Gross, for supporting our mission!
