Trellis Supportive Care

With over 24 years of nursing experience, Wendy Hicks leads interdisciplinary teams to deliver compassionate, person-centered hospice and palliative care. Her philosophy, rooted in dignity, empathy and advocacy reflects her belief that elder care is an ethical calling focused on the whole person. Combining clinical excellence with relationship-driven leadership, Hicks continues to elevate standards of care and support for patients, families, and caregivers alike.

Redefining Excellence in Elder Care

As Inpatient Director of Nursing at Trellis Supportive Care, excellence in elder care is defined as providing compassionate, competent and personalized person-centered care that maximizes the patient’s quality of life and supports their family during life’s final chapters. This involves honoring the patient’s life story, values and wishes, and ensuring they live as fully and comfortably as possible, with dignity and respect, in a home-like environment. To me, excellence means ensuring that our care helps patients live as fully as possible, while also providing emotional and spiritual support to their families. It’s about transforming care from a service into an act of humanity, one that honors life until its final moments.

Building Stability Through Empowered Teams

At Trellis Supportive Care, our success is measured through patient satisfaction and high nurse retention. This comes from an environment where staff feel trusted, valued and supported. I believe stability begins with listening, understanding the daily realities of bedside nurses and creating systems that allow them to provide the best possible care. We emphasize teamwork, open communication and professional growth, ensuring every nurse feels part of something purposeful. By managing workloads responsibly and fostering collaboration among our interdisciplinary team of nurses, social workers and chaplains, we’ve cultivated a culture where people stay because they feel they belong.

Turning Challenges into Opportunities for Growth

One recent challenge was to improve a new electronic health record (EHR). We were able to overcome implementation hurdles through comprehensive staff training, user involvement and clear communication, while future improvements involve streamlining workflows, optimizing the user interface, ensuring interoperability and implementing robust security measures. Gathering user feedback and advocating for specific feature enhancements is key to addressing the day-today challenges.

Transforming the Healthcare System for an Aging Society

Caring for an aging population calls for a reimagined healthcare system. I believe the future lies in better integrating hospice and palliative services into standard medical care, so they are seen as essential, not optional. True transformation also means addressing the whole person, their physical, emotional and spiritual needs and ensuring caregivers have the support they need. By strengthening care coordination and reducing unnecessary hospitalizations, we can create a system where compassion and efficiency coexist, and where aging with dignity becomes the standard, not the exception.

Innovations That Will Shape the Future of Elder Care

The next era of elder care will be defined by technology, workforce development and new care models that empower patients to age on their own terms. I see immense potential in telehealth and remote monitoring to enhance communication and ensure continuity of care. Artificial intelligence and data analytics can help identify patient needs earlier, while smart home devices and virtual reality can foster independence and engagement. At Trellis, we continue to explore these innovations thoughtfully, keeping compassion at the center of every advancement.

Guiding the Next Generation of Nurse Leaders

To emerging nurse leaders, my advice is lead with compassion, curiosity and courage. Nursing leadership today is about creating environments where people feel safe to speak, learn and grow. Listen actively to your patients, your peers and your intuition and use what you learn to build trust. The best nurse leaders cultivate psychological safety, foster collaboration and encourage innovation. When you lead with empathy and integrity, you don’t just improve outcomes, you transform lives, including your own.