Students helping patients with valentines

"It's pretty," Cornelia Clements said and then smiled when she received her handcrafted valentine message made by a Jackson Middle School student.

Alyssa Nimmer, 12, jam-packed her valentine with doodads, candy hearts and bright colors because she had a lot to say.

"I think it shows we put more work into it instead of just throwing something together and that we care a lot," Nimmer said.

The 30 valentine doorknob hangers made by students in Stephanie Martin's seventh grade service learning class at Jackson Middle School traveled across five Missouri counties to send caring expressions. The three-day service project included a presentation by Crown Hospice volunteer coordinator Nancy Gillard, who defined and discussed hospice.

The colorful valentine messages were delivered by Crown hospice nurses and home health aides to Crown Hospice patients -- some of whom may not otherwise have been remembered on Valentine's Day -- in Scott, Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Perry, Stoddard, Wayne and St. Francois counties.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.comTaylor Kiefer, 13, adds pipe cleaners to a valentine gift Wednesday, Feb. 4, at Jackson Middle School.

"All hospice care is faith-based," Gillard said. "The goal of the project was to bring one smile, each day to the valentine recipient. We want to do valentines not for the day but to celebrate that God loves them."

With Clements' smile accomplishing one part of the mission, the traveling valentines had a purpose for the students creating them, too.

The project was selected by Martin to help middle school students see beyond themselves and understand there are others who need love. Martin's service learning curriculum includes introducing different organizations to the class to help students learn what they care about. The students recently completed the SHARE program, (Students Helping, Aiding, Reaching the Elderly), where they visited residents at a local nursing home.

"Since they've all done that, this kind of project ties in," Martin said.

Taylor Kiefer, 13, said she had her grandma Hartle in mind while creating a valentine doorknob hanger.

Crown Hospice nurse Susan Lowe, left, checks Cornelia Clements' blood pressure Tuesday in Perryville, Mo. Crown Hospice partnered with Jackson Middle School to provide Valentine's Day gifts for patients.

"People helped her. She was living with my uncle because she wouldn't let hospice come or go to a nursing home. Sometimes she was in a bad mood. I understood. She was getting old. My grandpa had died, and people older than her were dying. She wanted to die," said Kiefer, who admitted she didn't know exactly what hospice was before Gillard's visit.

Six of the 15 students knew about hospice before Gillard talked with them last week.

"I might want to be a hospice person someday," Kiefer said. "I like cooking for people and helping people."

Hospice care, covered by Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance policies, is available at the end of a person's life when the focus turns from cure to care. Eligibility requirements for hospice vary. Clements, who lives in Perryville, Mo., meets requirements because of failure to thrive, said her daughter, Patsy Brewer, who visits daily and takes her to doctor appointments. Clements suffers from degenerative arthritis in her back and pain from a fall off the back door step, impacting her tailbone.

"Some days she has no pain. One wrong twist or turn can change that," Brewer said.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.comFaith Revelle, 13, makes a valentine door hanger for a hospice patients Feb. 4 at Jackson Middle School.

The two hospice nurses aides and a registered nurse come to the house a few times weekly help maintain Clements health. They check vitals, evaluate pain and choose medication and therapy under doctors' orders, bathe her and help her dress.

Hospice care, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, strives to meets the needs of patients and families. A doctor leads a hospice team, a registered nurse coordinates day-to-day care and chaplains and social workers are available to counsel the patient and family members.

But caring for hospice patients is more than checking off duties on a list. The nurses know their patients.

"You get attached to them," said Susan Lowe, the nurse who cares for Clements.

Gillard said Clements' valentine was hand-picked by the Crown home health aides that visit her.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.comPatsy Brewer, right, helps her mother Cornelia Clements with exercises Tuesday afternoon, February 10, 2009, in Perryville. Finding it difficult to care for her mother alone, Brewer sought help with hospice care.

cpagano@semissourian.com

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