I'm writing this review after the passing of my parent, who was a patient of Buena Vista…read more Throughout my family's experience with Buena Vista Home Health, we experienced glaring failures that I feel responsible to warn other families and patients about. The care that my parent received (and didn't receive) fell short of the prompt, coordinated, and compassionate standard that Buena Vista claims. Here are the issues that deeply upset my family:
1. ***Schedule changes and communication failures***
My parent was admitted to hospice with terminal cancer on a Thursday. We needed help with medications, at-home care, and so much more guidance. Our hospice nurse Deneshia rescheduled her initial visit TWICE so that my parent wasn't seen until Monday. For a patient at the end of life, every delayed visit is time that cannot be recovered. Repeated rescheduling of an initial hospice assessment is unacceptable and reflects a breakdown in staffing, prioritization, or accountability.
When Deneshia came to deliver medical supplies, she framed the visit as if she were "doing us a favor," noting that she was "only supposed to come once a week." In reality, that visit was to deliver supplies that we should have received at admission. Presenting the correction of Buena Vista's own delay as a favor to our family was inappropriate and added to our sense that my parent's care was not being prioritized.
2. ***Medication delays and errors***
Prescribed medications were delayed or entered incorrectly, and critically, my parent's Ativan was not delivered until the night before they passed.
For a hospice patient, timely access to comfort medications is not a convenience; it is the core of the service provided by hospice. Buena Vista Home Health was not proactive in coordinating with my parent's physicians and pharmacy to ensure medications were in the home where they were needed. This delay caused avoidable distress at the most vulnerable point in my parent's life, and it should have never happened under hospice supervision.
3. ***Missing standard supplies at admission***
When the admitting nurse Brian completed the assessment visit, he noted that the initial care bag contained only bare materials. Standard supplies that should have been provided at the outset but were missing until the following week included:
-Shampoo and body wash
-Cleaning supplies
-Foam dressings
-Calazime
-Urinals
My family and I got so frustrated waiting for these supplies that we ordered them ourselves online. The absence of foam dressings and Calazime was especially concerning given the risk of pressure injuries in a bed-bound patient. These are baseline items that a well-run hospice program should have delivered on day one, not days into service.
4. ***Shifting clinical responsibilities to my family***
Our hospice nurse Deneshia shifted responsibility onto me, rather than taking it on herself. The only time she ever physically touched my parent was during her introduction and to take vitals. She never demonstrated how to perform any aspect of my parent's care.
Deneshia repeatedly referred to our family as the "primary nurses" and to herself as "secondary." I find this framing troubling. If the family is expected to serve as the primary caregivers, then the hospice nurse's role in supporting, teaching, and demonstrating care becomes even more essential--not less. I happen to be a nurse, but the standard of hospice care cannot depend on whether a family has a trained healthcare worker in it. Had I not been present, I am left to wonder what care my parent would have actually received.
I asked Deneshia to provide a list of my parent's medications and how specifically to administer them. I never received a medication list or instructions. I am shocked that Deneshia tried to explain the mechanism of COPD to me when my parent did not have COPD. Any education that a hospice nurse provides should be specific and relevant to the patient in front of them, not generic information that does not apply to their patient's care.
Between this, the lack of hands-on care, and the absence of any real teaching, I'm left questioning what purpose the hospice nurse served at all.
5. ***Responsiveness at the time my parent's passing***
On the morning of my parent's passing, I found my parent pulseless and not breathing. My family called Deneshia three times without any answer. When Deneshia finally returned the call, her tone conveyed that our calls were an inconvenience to her. Her tone only shifted when we informed her that my parent had passed.
After I informed Buena Vista of these failures, their response was to offer their apologies and to let my family know that they would incorporate our grievances into their clinical education.
I share these experiences because I don't want another family to endure what mine did.
