Greetings... Hospice Nurse Falling Apart

Dear falling apart,
I am a student nurse and I am very interested in becoming a Hospice Nurse. I have one daughter who has graduated from college and the other is begining her Junior year in Sept. I too feel that it is my calling to help those who can't help themselves. After reading you blog I felt a sinking feeling that maybe Hospice would not be right for me. The other respondents helped me see that you have to search for the job that is right for you. The reason I wanted to become a hospice nurse was to get to know the families and to help them through the dying process. My mother-in-law passed away over 20 years ago and I will never forget the kindness of the hospice nurses. Without them my husband and father-in-law could not have survived the ordeal. I am very good with people and I hope that this will be rewarding. If anyone has any advice I would love to hear from you. I will be starting my Junior year in the BSN program but my husband is not supportive about me going back to school or working. Keep your chin up I am sure the families love you!!!!!!

Run, don't walk away... Hospice doesn't have to be like that. That is not safe and it's not right. You can't be the kind of nurse you want to be with 12-14 visits a day, even without any call. There are good agencies out there, but please don't stay in that kind of situation.

Holy cow and I thought I had it bad. 12-14 pts. a day is enough to make anyone crazy! That is sooo dangerous. Glad to hear you carry extra insurance and that the work load has become more sane. I see between 5 - 7 (on a bad day) in a rural area...that's crazy enough. Our on call is one night a week two weeks of the month, two nights a week one week of the month and then the last week is weekend oncall from 1630 Friday till 0800 on Monday.

I know how you feel. I was working 10-12 hours a day, almost every weekend and several times during the week on call, that is on top of working during the day. It took me having my husband moving out to realize that you need a life other than your job. I love this work and have NO desire to return to the hospital, but I love my family more. I went to my boss, talked to her, and now work at most two nights a week and one weekend a month. If you ave a family remember that this job effects EVERYONE you come in contact with.