Hospice: Knowledge and Wisdom Worth Dying For

would like some feelings from hospice people re: my prior blog from suespets,6/9/08. Can't imagine why no one has answered sue

It is a continuous pleasure & satisfaction to read what G-mo
wrote. Wish all nurses felt the same way in which ever departement
they work in. I know I did & the feeling sustained me these many years. I repeat it is so great to be a nurse.

safta24

Does a hospice nurse need to be an R.N?

momatino
If I were a hospice patient (near future) I would first of all want
a nurse who can assess my situation & anticipate my needs mainly
discomfort/pain needs & for those qualifications I believe an RN
would be better than anyone else
If I had reached a plateau & my Vitals etc were predictable I do believe a non RN would have the necessary compassion to be very helpful. MHO. What do the rest of the nurses think?
safta24

Beautifully worded! It has enlightened me on whats involved in hospice care. Thanks for this article. I wish u the best!

I have been an RN since 1987, starrted out in L & D for 8.5 yrs., moved to Med/Surg for 2 yrs all on the night shift then had a day job I applied to for outpatient pretesting for surgery. I had also applied to Hospice at that time but the position was filled by a nurse already on staff. After 10 yrs in the pretest department at the hospital, I moved to Radiology Nursing/PICC Lines, been there just over a year now, and am seriously thinking about going for Hospice again. Since I have been in this hospital for 17+ yrs, I am hesitant to move still. Could someone please push me........................I keep telling my husband who is unemployed that I am not sure if the money would be the same, but I feel my peace of mind should come as a higher priority.....I have 5 references, 3 who work for Hospice and an RN I work with who recently lost her husband and had Hospice......she tells me I was his 2nd favorite nurse. In Radiology we do biopsies, and para/thoracentesis, drainage tubes, nephrostomy tubes, etc. some of the patients have been 85+ with mets and I am always asking myself why are they doing this, a 94 yr old last week who has Hospice came to us for her 5th Nephrostomy tube placement, she's lost at least 60 pds since we first saw her and has dementia, this is when I feel it's about the money and I get so frustrated......the time we put bilateral tubes in she was on her stomach and somewhat overweight......we had to end up strapping her to the CT table and the Interventional Rad was yelling at me, that it was my job to make her not move.......I was so upset......and felt so bad for the poor woman. If that had been my mother............it never would have happened.....and I hope it doesn't happen to me someday. I sometimes feel like I should just apply and see what they have to offer.........At least in Hospice I would know what I am dealing with, and not be stressed on a day to day basis with ppl yelling, if you know what I am talking about. We also do conscious sedation, alot of responsibility. Need encouragement from others out there to move on........my self esteem has been crushed many times this past yr..............I actually had to do a presentation during my team nursing in school (back in the days) and it was done on "Death and Dying" I think my teacher was surprised as were some of the floor nurses. I did one time during my Med/Surg., take care of a 44 yr old woman with cirrhosis who was dying, I took care of her every night that I worked and I knew for some reason she was going to die soon, I called the evening floor nurse and requested that the other bed in the room be left empty if possible so her husband could spend the night, to my surprise when I came in they had not filled the bed and her husband was there.........she did die that night, and he was allowed to stay, and I had time to help him through it too........it's been one of my best experiences in my nursing career...........please feel free to help me out here.........

read your insightful letter. I'm wondering why your hubby isn't working? If he were,would you still want to work hospice, thinking you'd love it? sue

He is self employed and has been trying to get things going in our native plant nursery but ppl just aren't buying, and the economy is really bad......no jobs in the paper either her in Florida..........are you a hospice nurse, also? It's not cause he doesn't want to work. He's working on that issue and even if he was working this is the year for Change and maybe it's time to get out of the hospital where everything is about the dollar..............and not patient care from what I am seeing........do you think?

Couldn't find your other 6/9/08 blog, wondered what it was about?????

I had worked hosp, but 25 yrs ago,now in ltc,since. hospice comes into our place,but I think reg. hospice facility does things differently. My prior blog was what do hospice nurses say to ppl who don't have a belief , or are agnostic, or pt's who are athiest, in order to soothe them as they,the pts are dying? One person answered,only. I also believe in trying to keep pt. care and the $ factor separate, but it's still a business.