Hospice Nurses...please read my thread

Charlee, I am a BIG believer in being where you are meant to be, right now. I was meant to write that blog and you were meant to read it. Where to start to get into Hospice nursing? Find a non-profit hospice (I've worked for both and I will ONLY work for non-profit hospices going forward), preferably one that has its own inpatient care center (think ICU-level care for terminally ill/hospice patients). Many times you will not see an advertisement for hospice nurses though they are in heavy demand most of the time. Most of our nurses come knocking on our doors -either because they've worked with us while caring for patients in hospitals or SNFs or because they had someone they loved in hospice care and got an up-close look at what we do. It is perfectly fine to come into hospice care without having worked in hospice previously. I'll tell you what we look for...a nurse with strong clinical skills who can effectively paint the picture of what they are seeing at the patient's bedside; a nurse who has confidence in his/her own assessment skills and is not afraid to advocate for what the patient/family states are their goals for comfort and being able to communicate that goal and collaborate with Physicians to help meet it; a nurse who understands that we might see things that are a bit unexpected at times but is able to look into the eyes of the person you are treating and understand this could be your mother, your father, your child...yourself; a nurse who understands the fragile population whom we serve and who is OK holding the hands of the pt/family to help them understand what is happening and what we can do to help. I wear a button from the hospice I work at in Denver that says, "Actually, there is something more we can do". We know we're not on the curative side anymore but we have tremendous hope for a better quality of life (whatever that looks like to your patient) for however long that life continues. Go in and speak with the HR department of a hospice near you and tell them that your heart is telling you that this is where you belong. It won't be taken as sappy or smooth-talking...it will be understood from your hospice nurses' heart to ours. You are the nurse we want to join our hospice family of providers. And, yes, we do have special certification to demonstrate our expertise in this field but typically we encourage hospice nurses to work in this field for a few years before they begin down this road. Many hospices provide cash awards for obtaining this certification (ours offers $1250 award) as it is to our credit to be able to say that 85% of our RNs have been certified as experts in the field of Hospice & Palliative Care. So many wonderful experiences are ahead of you and you sound as ready as I was for a change. Someone is spiritually tapping you on the shoulder, my dear. It's been my experience to listen to that gentle advice and everything will fall into place around you.

My last day on that floor was earlier this week. I'm starting as a hopsice RN later this month. Despite the relief I have just in knowing that I won't be on the floor any more, it is rather frightening to leave the only nursing job I've ever known for something so dramatically different. Your post helped to serve as confirmation that I've made the right choice.