Are there any hospice nurses out there?

aimeee, BSN, RN · May 14, 2004

Pleased to meet you. :) You're right, hospice employees are a great bunch. And we receive as much as we give, and more. Glad to have you join us.

nurseduck · May 20, 2004

I loved my time with hospice! It was the most rewarding nursing I have ever done. I miss it so much. Best of luck to you.:) :balloons:

I am an RN in home health hospice nursing. It was a gradual progression for nurses aide to LPN to RN, staffing and nursing home work, to home health and now onto hospice home health. I love it. I truly feel I walk away from every patient with more than I could possibly give them. And I work with a great bunch of nurses who really care about our patients and each other. How about anyone else?

mjamesRN · May 22, 2004

Been hospice nursing for four months now and it really is a special field. I love the flexibility of it job-wise. In the nursing end of it (no pun intended), teaching and encouraging and reassuring families and patients, and dispelling the misconceptions about dying is wonderfully rewarding. The pay isn't so great, documentation is immense, but seeing someone through is a great gift you can give as a nurse.

momcats3 · Jun 6, 2004

I love my job, I love my co-workers, I love my patients! Went back to school at 40 just to do this. I am so lucky:) , so blessed.

Mommy/Grandma · Jun 6, 2004

I am an RN in home health hospice nursing. It was a gradual progression for nurses aide to LPN to RN, staffing and nursing home work, to home health and now onto hospice home health. I love it. I truly feel I walk away from every patient with more than I could possibly give them. And I work with a great bunch of nurses who really care about our patients and each other. How about anyone else?

Can you tell me what a home health hospice nurse does? I am a LPN and very much interested in Hospice, in the paper today the local Hospice is looking for an LPN per diem to do home hospice care. My Mom was under Hospice care but in a nursing home, that is how I decided to become a nurse at the age of 45.

dhudzinski · Jun 7, 2004

Can you tell me what a home health hospice nurse does? I am a LPN and very much interested in Hospice, in the paper today the local Hospice is looking for an LPN per diem to do home hospice care. My Mom was under Hospice care but in a nursing home, that is how I decided to become a nurse at the age of 45.

My Dad died in 1975 before Hospice had really gotten started in the US. Hospice began in New Haven ,Connecticut in 1974.

I have been a Hospice nurse officially since 1982 and unofficially since 1974. It is the most rewarding job I have ever had. I take brief respites from it to renew myself but I keep finding myself drawn back to it. AND I know for sure that I never want to go back to in hospital "floor" nursing. As a hospice nurse you are allowed to participate and become a part of the most intimate and intense part of another person's life. They invite you in and you become a integral part of their caregiving team.

It is my firm belief that Hospice nurses are born and not made. It takes a special kind of person to do the job of taking care of patients who know that they are dying.

What do hospice nurses do? They listen with their whole being. They guide patients and families safetly through mine fields., Successfully Guiding them over hills and into the valleys and up the other side again. They expertly and efficiently palliate (Palliate means to "cover up") the symptoms of the dying process. They assist patients to find meaning in the dying and help them to complete life tasks. They facilitate the mending of relationships. They support the family caregivers who do the bulk of the work. Hospice nurse help to coordinate the care. There is a lot of teaching that goes on each visit. There is also a fair amount of paper work as there is for any job in nursing these days.

I have recieved much from my hospice patients in terms of life lessons and insights. BUT One of my Hospice patients gave me the most incredible gift he taught me to be a professional clown before he died. He was a Shriner Clown and wanted to pass his passion for Clowning on to someone prior to his death. That was 1995 and I now teach others how to become a clown and I have formed a Caring-clown Alley and we are a part of Wellness House.

Mommy/Grandma · Jun 7, 2004

My Dad died in 1975 before Hospice had really gotten started in the US. Hospice began in New Haven ,Connecticut in 1974.
I have been a Hospice nurse officially since 1982 and unofficially since 1974. It is the most rewarding job I have ever had. I take brief respites from it to renew myself but I keep finding myself drawn back to it. AND I know for sure that I never want to go back to in hospital "floor" nursing. As a hospice nurse you are allowed to participate and become a part of the most intimate and intense part of another person's life. They invite you in and you become a integral part of their caregiving team.
It is my firm belief that Hospice nurses are born and not made. It takes a special kind of person to do the job of taking care of patients who know that they are dying.
What do hospice nurses do? They listen with their whole being. They guide patients and families safetly through mine fields., Successfully Guiding them over hills and into the valleys and up the other side again. They expertly and efficiently palliate (Palliate means to "cover up") the symptoms of the dying process. They assist patients to find meaning in the dying and help them to complete life tasks. They facilitate the mending of relationships. They support the family caregivers who do the bulk of the work. Hospice nurse help to coordinate the care. There is a lot of teaching that goes on each visit. There is also a fair amount of paper work as there is for any job in nursing these days.
I have recieved much from my hospice patients in terms of life lessons and insights. BUT One of my Hospice patients gave me the most incredible gift he taught me to be a professional clown before he died. He was a Shriner Clown and wanted to pass his passion for Clowning on to someone prior to his death. That was 1995 and I now teach others how to become a clown and I have formed a Caring-clown Alley and we are a part of Wellness House.

Thanks for you info. I knew my Mom only had about a year to live she had cancer. I brought Hospice in about 4 or months before she passed. Though we never talked about her dying I knew when I took her for walks in the wheel chair and the wind would brush across her face what she was thinking. It was a Monday that she pass and on the Monday before she had turned to me and said that she new she was going to die, all I could do was tell her was not to be afraid. She died a week later, it has been 2 years and seems like yesterday. I was with her when she passed to me it was like someone being born. The sickness on her face disapereared and she looked sooo peaceful it only took about a minute but it seemed like things were going in slow motion. I have worked at a nursing home and at a hospital and when I no someone is going to die I find myself going in and talking to them even if they are not alert I know they can hear. I thank them for letting me take care of them and geting to know them and let them know when there family will be in ,stuff like that. I am sorry I can go on and on about this. Thanks for sharing your story with me.

Louisepug · Jun 7, 2004

What beautifully, inspiring posts. I definatley feel a call towards Hospice nursing. I have been volunteering now for a few months with a local Hospice, and can't wait until the day comes each week when I go and visit my patients. Sometimes, I think I get more out of it then they do! :) It is truly a special, and blessed field to be called towards.

momcats3 · Jun 9, 2004

Well put everyone!!! I also think Hospice nurses are born and not made. You could not do this job just for the money....it's your heart's calling. 3 patients of mine passed away today. In each case I asked myself did I do everything I could, and in each case I knew I did (including fighting with, oops "educating", some docs). I know I do not have the power to change the outcome, but the ability to make someone as comfortable as humanly possible is a magnificent gift.