Burned out already

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Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.

I've been working in a hospice house facility for 6 months and I am feeling burned out. Is it common for hospice nurses to feel like this so early? I feel like I'm loosing all the nursing skills I worked so hard to be proficient in. We get inappropriate admits who belong in LTC or assisted living. The charting is insane. Staffing is horrible.

My associates and past coworkers spoke so highly of hospice and I felt it fit what I wanted but people are always saying hospice is a calling. I don't fit that mold and don't feel like I belong here.

I did not expect utopia but I feel like I'm attached to the computer instead of doing patient care. I could have stayed in med surg to do that and kept up my skills. This is just a vent. Thanks.

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I love hospice, but I do in home hospice. The charting is ridiculous, but it is part of nursing now. I left med-surg nursing because I couldn't do anything for pt's except pass meds and chart. At least with hospice I only have one pt at a time to deal with most days. If you aren't happy, look for another kind of nursing. That is what I love about nursing is there are so many options available to us. Good luck to you.

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It sounds like it is your particular facility. Are there any other in-patient hospice and/or palliative care options?

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Hospice nursing is not about the skills. If that's what you care about get out. When you mentioned burn out I thought you meant emotional but clearly not.

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Specializes in Psychiatry.

Hospice is NOT a career to use for "building your nursing skills." It is a calling, an ability to care for pts (and families) and their darkest hours.

Agree with Suesquatch- head back to Med/Surg ASAP.

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

Could you explain why you think your patients should be in a SNF or AL? Are they too 'healthy' for Hospice?

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Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.
Hospice nursing is not about the skills. If that's what you care about get out. When you mentioned burn out I thought you meant emotional but clearly not.

I'm well aware what hospice is about or supposed to be about and I am doing very well in my current position. You don't decide if I get out or not.

I wasn't aware that one couldn't be a hospice nurse and miss aspects of acute care at the same time. I was venting because I had a very rough night and don't feel we are really staying true to the mission.

They use the facility as a dumping ground for people with chronic illness who don't have adequate family support or family doesn't want to pursue LTC for financial or other reasons.

How can I be emotionally burned out when I don't get to spend the needed time with patients and family?

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Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.
Hospice is NOT a career to use for "building your nursing skills." It is a calling, an ability to care for pts (and families) and their darkest hours.

Agree with Suesquatch- head back to Med/Surg ASAP.

I'm not using hospice to build skills. The point was I didn't think I would miss those aspects of med surg after 4 years and that many patients here are not appropriate GIP admissions and don't require symptom management.

It is frustrating when those patients take away time from my people who are actively dying or rapidly declining.

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Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.
Could you explain why you think your patients should be in a SNF or AL? Are they too 'healthy' for Hospice?

Maybe I should not say hospice appropriate but not appropriate as GIP admission the way I understood it to be.

So when we have patients that require no symptom management and are just confused (not delirious or agitated) and incontinent and the family can't deal with it, I consider that inappropriate.

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Lil'Mama, had you made these things clear originally the responses would have been quite different.

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Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.
It sounds like it is your particular facility. Are there any other in-patient hospice and/or palliative care options?

None that are nearby to me and I don't want to do home hospice.

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My first hospice job only lasted six months for that very reason. I was burned-out and exhausted. I felt that hospice was a good fit for me so I tried another company before making the switch to another area. It has made all the difference. I love my current job. I wake up every morning grateful to have an opportunity to go to work. The difference in management style, company culture, and support staff is huge.

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