first weekend on call

It runs the gamut from people who just need a little reassurance or have a question about a medication to a patient that has just decided constipation is an emergency to a family freaking out because they are suddenly confronted with the reality of death. One night there may be no calls, another it may be constant. There is no typical. You will get a sense after a while of who needs a visit right off the bat and who will be fine with a little advice and teaching.

I am new to hospice and I have accepted a weekend on call position. I will be second call backing up an LPN during the daytime and then overnight its just me. What kind of calls typically come in overnight? I'm afraid that I'll think that I should always go out when there is a call. What are the overnights like?

I've only got a couple months experience in hospice, all of it in on-call nights. You get everything from questions about when the nurse is coming tomorrow, to pain and other symptom management problems to TOD calls. A few are because equipment or meds didn't get delivered.

We always offer a nurse visit for symptoms and TOD, but often the caller just has questions about when they can give a med and will decline a visit. We ask that they call back if s/s not improved.

In my limited experience, it's very rare that a family won't accept a visit for TOD, and TOD is the majority of post-midnight calls.