Entering Hospice

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Long time RN over 25 yrs looking to get back to clinical nursing with hospice. My previous life included case mgmt, UR, med-surg, ICU/CCU, ER, IV therapy in my clinical life yrs ago. My questions is to enter into hospice what educational needs do I need to bring me up to speed? Nursing refresher course, CPR certification, IV therapy, ??? Please advise, all comments appreciated. Thanks so much. Rubey

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Specializes in ER, NICU, NSY and some other stuff.

Have you been completely out of practice? I would insist on an adequete orintation. This area isn't like hospital nursing. It is all about keeping your patients comfy and safe. Getting to know the drugs commonly used and creative ways of belivering them gtts, topical, gels, patches, nebulized, etc.

Sometimes you got to be thinking way outside the box to provide comfort to your patients.

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I wouldn't call hospice nursing a walk in the park; you have to know appropriate sx mgmt for multiple disease processes, not just CA. And there are many skills you need to have, not to mention being able to manage your time and function independently. Pts. often have equipment to deal with, e.g. different types of IV pumps, tube feeds (yes, some hospice pts do get tube feedings), etc.

If you haven't been actively practicing for an extended period of time, I would suggest you try to get a refresher course and then spend some time in med-surg. to get your skills up to speed and polish your assessment skills.

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Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.

Hello and welcome to the great family of allnurses. Good luck to you. :)

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