[BoomerRN]

I have experience of over 15 years working in nursing homes and in Ohio where I lived and worked in the 70-80s we nurses didn't have hospice and took care of the terminally ill as best we could. I went for an interview last week for a Hospice nurse manager position where I would travel round to different nursing homes in our area seeing the terminally ill. It sounds like the job for me, but I have a question: For those of you who have this kind of job, can you tell me what you do-what is your routine. The DON was trying to describe my duties, but I still am not sure what they are. She has offered to send me out with another nurse for a day to give me an idea. I just thought I would see what other Hospice nurses are doing.

[nurselearner]

Definitely go out with the other nurse before you make a decision - more than one if you can - everyone has a different relationship with the staff at the NH. Plus you will be interacting with the staff and can get a feel for how receptive they are to hospice.

[EmptytheBoat]

Hey Boomer, thanks for your inquiry. I'm a hospice nurse and visit NH pt's
quite frequently. You definitely should ride-a-along with an experienced
Hospice NH nurse for a few weeks to get all the dynamics, nuances and
procedures for all/any of the NH's you will be required to cover. It is
definitely a challenge, I compare it to walking in quicksand, and I allow
myself about twice as much time as would be expected. I'm sure the
experience is quite different for each Hospice nurse. I work with other
Hospice nurses that handle their visits quite routinely, easy money,
no expectations; but, to what end? It's all in the perception. God Speed!