Jeni Mohr doesn’t always get to visit patients on the happiest day of their lives. Sometimes, it is only a matter of weeks, days or hours she spends with a person, but the shared bond transcends even death.

Mohr is employed as a registered nurse at Iowa River Hospice, 502 Plaza Heights Road. She didn’t get her nursing degree until age 40. During her schooling, she completed a preceptorship at Iowa River Hospice and immediately discovered her niche. She has been employed at the company the past 12 years.

“I firmly believe this is where God wants me to be. I don’t think I could do this job if I didn’t have a strong faith,” she said. “I also have a really understanding husband.”

Certified in providing hospice and palliative care, which requires undergoing special training, she works with patients on pain management and stress relief, often communicating directly with doctors and caregivers to ensure medications and treatment are staying up to date. Mohr’s average caseload consists of seeing 10-14 clients multiple times each week — sometimes on a daily basis. She serves Marshalltown and several surrounding communities.

Jeni Mohr is employed as a registered nurse at Iowa River Hospice, certified in providing hospice and palliative care. Her average caseload consists of seeing 10-14 clients multiple times each week — sometimes on a daily basis. She serves Marshalltown and several surrounding communities.

From taking vitals to monitoring pain and any changes in symptoms, and even just sitting down to enjoy a conversation and share a laugh, Mohr provides care with a calming voice and a smile.

“(Hospice care) is very holistic. You’re not just looking at one aspect of health care,” Executive Director Emily Carson said. “It’s the psychosocial and spiritual with a team of home health aids, social workers, a medical director, volunteers, nurses, etc.”

While Mohr’s shift is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, emergencies are rarely confined to normal business hours.

“Sometimes you work weekends or are on call. We do also have people who just work those shifts,” Mohr said. “I rarely am done with work at 4:30 p.m., with paperwork and call backs to do.”

Hospice is medically defined as “a doctor not being surprised if a patient died within the next six months,” although many patients outlive that timeframe.

“Hospice is really about living and trying to fulfill all the goals and comfort of patients and their families,” Carson said.

Mohr meets her patients wherever they call home, be it a nursing home, assisted living center or a house. Iowa River Hospice also has a six-bed in-patient facility, staffed by a separate team of nurses.

Mohr said whenever she’s notified of a patient’s death, no matter the hour, she immediately goes to the scene to pronounce the time of death.

Watching a patient’s loved ones experience grief can be heart-wrenching.

“Most of the time people are pretty calm. Sometimes when a loved one passes, they’re panicky, because they don’t know what to do,” she said. “Usually once they hear ‘I’m on my way’ it brings them down a little bit.”

Even after the death of a client, her work continues.

“I give the family as much time as they need. I usually bathe the body and get the person cleaned up. Brush their hair. Put clean clothing on them. When the family is ready, I call the funeral home, and when they come, I help with that transfer,” she said.

Mohr tries to attend the visitation and or funeral of her deceased clients, periodically phoning the family and sending them a little note.

She stays in touch with fellow nurses and staff at daily morning meetings. A weekly team meeting allows employees the chance to talk through a difficult day or sitation, and to vent, laugh or cry.

“The strength we give each other here, you don’t find at every place. You have to give it and accept it,” she said.

Inevitably, Mohr becomes emotionally attached to her patients.

“Sometimes I just have to pull over to the side of the road and cry, then go on,” she said. “It is hard. You get close to a lot of different people you know are going to die soon. But I really do consider it a privilege to be allowed into a family at this time because it can be such a sacred and special time. Sometimes they reconnect with a loved one. I feel part of my job is to allow that time to be special.”

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Contact Sara Jordan-Heintz at

641-753-6611 or

sjordan@timesrepublican.com

Editor’s note: This story updated Emily Carson’s title.