N.D. Cent. Code § 23-17.4-01 Definitions
23-17.4-01. Definitions
In this chapter, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires:
1. "Bereavement" means the period of time during which the hospice patient's family
experiences and adjusts to the death of the hospice patient.
2. "Department" means the department of health and human services.
3. "Hospice care team" means an interdisciplinary working unit including the hospice
patient and the hospice patient's family, the attending physician, the medical director of
the hospice program, a registered professional nurse as defined under chapter
43-12.1, a social worker licensed pursuant to chapter 43-41 providing medical social
services, and trained hospice volunteers. Providers of special services, including a
spiritual counselor, a pharmacist, a registered dietitian, or professionals in the field of
mental health may be included on the interdisciplinary team as determined to be
appropriate by the hospice program.
4. "Hospice patient" means a person diagnosed as terminally ill with a prognosis of an
anticipated life expectancy of six months or less, who has received admission into the
hospice program. The diagnosis and prognosis must be certified by the attending
physician.
5. "Hospice patient's family" means the immediate kin of the patient, including a spouse,
parent, stepparent, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, child, or stepchild. Additional
relatives or individuals with significant personal ties to the hospice patient may be
included in the hospice patient's family for the purposes of this chapter.
6. "Hospice program" means a coordinated program of home and inpatient care
providing hospice services directly, or through agreement, using a hospice care team.
7. "Hospice service plan" means the plan detailing the specific hospice services offered
by a hospice program and the administrative and direct care personnel responsible for
those services.
8. "Hospice services" means palliative and supportive medical, health, and other care
provided to hospice patients and their families to meet the special needs arising out of
the physical, emotional, spiritual, and social stresses experienced during the final
stages of illness and during dying and bereavement so that when and where possible
the hospice patient may remain at home, with homelike inpatient care utilized only if
and while it is necessary.
9. "Palliative care" means treatment which is intended to achieve relief from, reduction of,
or elimination of pain and other troubling symptoms, rather than treatment aimed at
investigation and intervention for the purposes of cure or prolongation of life.
10. "Volunteer services" means the services provided by individuals who have successfully
completed a training program developed by a licensed hospice program.