The senior children's hospice doctor Dr Raymund Pothmann (paediatric palliative care doctor and paediatric pain therapist) together with three other doctors and around 38 very experienced health care and (paediatric) nurses ensure highly qualified medical and nursing care around the clock.
Medical care
Terminally ill children often suffer from a variety of complaints. In addition to anxiety, indigestion, fatigue, insomnia and many more complaints, it is above all pain that compromises their quality of life. We provide the best possible pain therapy through pain assessment and documentation and through an intense dialogue between between everyone involved. Our sick guests, their parents, our nurses, pastoral workers, the hospice management and the attending doctor are in constant contact with one another to carefully monitor the medications and dosages. Our nurses use various methods to determine the pain level of "our" children, adolescents and young adults. One example is the smiley scale, which our visitors use to pinpoint the severity of their pain. The scale uses drawn pictures of children's faces to indicate the range from "lowest/no pain" to "strongest pain". The child points to a smiley, which allows us to choose the right level of medication.
Every child, every adolescent and every young adult is a new challenge that cannot be met using textbooks and guidelines alone. Only through personal commitment and by engaging in intense dialogue about the situation of the young people affected can we ensure the best possible care and pain management.