South Sound hospital volunteers’ mission is no one dies alone

OLYMPIA — When Lee Miller arrives at Providence St. Peter Hospital to hold a quiet vigil next to someone nearing the end of their life, she first stops by the chapel to pray. 

“It’s sort of a beginning point by saying, ‘OK, God, help me find out who needs me,’” said Miller, who has been a hospice volunteer and has brought Communion to dying patients at St. Peter. 

Miller, who attends Mass at St. Martin’s Abbey and Sacred Heart Parish in Lacey, is one of 35 volunteers participating in No One Dies Alone, a ministry that started at Providence St. Peter in 2009 and at Providence Centralia Hospital in 2018.

“It really sprang from compassionate hearts,” said Teresa Lynch, senior manager of spiritual care services at Providence Swedish South Puget Sound, which encompasses Providence St. Peter in Olympia and Providence Centralia.

While working as a nurse manager in long-term care, Liz Hopkins said she “had the privilege of being with patients at the end of life. I hated it when I saw patients who were dying and did not have family,” added Hopkins, a member of St. Michael Parish in Olympia.

As a volunteer for No One Dies Alone (also called NODA), Hopkins visits patients from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. before she starts her job in electronic hospital records for Providence Swedish South Puget Sound.

“I love the quiet” of the early morning, she said.

Ministry of accompaniment

Lynch said it was the hospital’s nursing staff who identified the need for a program to accompany patients as they are dying. 

Nurses saw patients who appeared to be 12 to 24 hours from death, but their family members needed a break from keeping vigil. Or patients didn’t have a loved one available to be with them. 

“Sometimes a nurse has had a conversation with family that this ministry is available,” Lynch said.

Nurses also provide updates to a specially trained No One Dies Alone coordinator before the coordinator engages a patient or family about having a volunteer present.

“We complement whatever support they are getting from a loved one,” Lynch said.

In 2018, No One Dies Alone had 100 volunteers who provided 3,000 volunteer hours to accompany 650 dying patients, said Merrit Reed, volunteer services manager. After a hiatus because of the pandemic, the ministry resumed in fall 2022; as of June, volunteers had provided 470 hours of service, Reed said.

Volunteers must of course be comfortable being around a dying person and know how to be peaceful in a room when someone isn’t speaking, Lynch said. They make sure no direct or indirect harm comes to the patient as they accompany them on the journey.

“We’re the protector of the vulnerable,” Lynch said. “It’s really clear that people have a sense of call and purpose to this ministry.”

It’s a “privilege” to participate in hospital ministry, Miller said, but being a NODA volunteer is not for everyone.

“There are so many things we need to think through before (a volunteer is) sitting at the bedside of someone who is dying,” she said. “Sometimes it’s powerful and beautiful; sometimes it’s awkward and challenging.”

‘Something holy is happening’

Miller tries to spend an hour with each person she’s assigned to visit. When arriving in a patient’s room, she may not see any indications that the person had a faith life.

She sits quietly, praying silently.

“I try not to presume what people want in their last hours,” Miller said.

She serves as the eyes and ears for nurses who don’t have time to closely watch every patient, letting them know if the person may be anxious or in pain.

“Usually the people we sit with have been living with poor health or pain for a while,” Miller said. “I pray they can cross over in peace and without pain, to be received into God’s light.” 

When her visiting time is over, “I say goodnight and tell them I’m glad I could keep them company for a while.”

Her faith is a “profound” part of her ministry, Miller said.

“As a NODA volunteer in the hospital, I’ve seen suffering that sometimes challenges my faith,” she said. But “sometimes the room of a dying patient feels like a chapel — something holy is happening there,” Miller said. “When I’m present for a death, it feels like a privileged moment.”

Nurses at St. Peter said NODA volunteers provide “a much-needed support for patients who are end of life” and “have brought comfort to all they helped.”

Charles Kasler, who was a hospice volunteer for 20 years, said being a NODA volunteer “gives me a sense of meaning when life can seem so chaotic. It also takes me out of my sense of self-absorption and reminds me that we are all connected, brothers and sisters,” he said.

“I do feel like patients are showing me how to die with dignity and courage,” Kasler said, “and maybe that will help me when my time comes.”

Hopkins said visiting a dying patient feeds her soul.

“There’s a connection with them and with God and with me,” she said. 

Volunteering with No One Dies Alone “does make me pause and stop and recognize I need to enjoy every moment,” Hopkins added.