Michele Senbertrand, Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner for By The Bay Health, has been named a 2023 Frontline Honors honoree by Hospice News.
To become a Frontline Honoree, an individual is nominated by their peers. The candidate must be a dedicated, high-performing frontline worker who delivers exceptional experiences and outcomes; a passionate worker who knows how to put their vision into action for the good of older adults and aging industry professionals; and an advocate for older adults, their industry, and their peers.
Hospice News caught up with Senbertrand to discuss their time in the hospice care industry.
HSPN: What drew you to this industry?
Senbertrand: Growing up, I was a math and science kid with a desire to be useful, so I eventually found my way to healthcare, and then to nursing. Once I was in the field, I realized I didn’t feel comfortable with a lot of how we treat patients: the paternalism (which was much more prevalent 30+ years ago when I entered the field), the lack of understanding of diverse population’s needs, and the separation of physical ailments from emotional and spiritual distress. Hospice and palliative care is the antithesis of this, to my great relief.
HSPN: What’s your biggest lesson learned since starting to work in the industry?
Senbertrand: You need a great team. As an only child, I’m quite comfortable on my own, and I think a lot of practitioners, especially in home care, are comfortable “out there alone”. Learning to work with and be supported by a really strong team just makes my work easier, deeper, more meaningful, joyful. The conversations my patients have with me and our team are really beautiful, thoughtful, funny, poignant, generous.
HSPN: What’s your favorite part about your job?
Senbertrand: Being able to impact someone’s suffering in a positive way is a great reward. One of my strengths, I’ve discovered, is an ability to sit with suffering, bear witness, hold space for our patients as we navigate, together, the unique journey we’re on.
HSPN: What do you want society (or the general public) to know about your job?
Senbertrand: Those of us who are committed to working in hospice and palliative care do so DESPITE the obstacles. Obstacles include poor funding/reimbursement for palliative care services, lack of knowledge of what we do, outright hostility at times to the work we do, a fragmented healthcare industry that is (mostly) focused on curative treatment, and a culture that often does not include whole person language or relate to the patient as expert in their lived experience and goals.
HSPN: What may be one thing leaders don’t know, that you wish they universally knew, about your job?
Senbertrand: Leaders in palliative care know what issues we face. Leaders in healthcare, in my opinion, while trying to improve standards and create more inclusive delivery of care, in practice, are often still stuck in traditional (fragmented, not whole person) healthcare. Leaders in government could learn a lot from our approach, which in many ways mirrors grassroots political organizing in the way it regards the patient as expert in their lived experience. Many aspects of life, not just healthcare, can be approached from a palliative perspective, that is, asking what’s important to the people most impacted. Palliative care is not just about symptom management in end stage disease process, it’s about listening to what people really value and want in their lives.
To view the entire Frontline Honors Class of 2023, visit frontlinehonors.agingmedia.com
