Honest opinions please! Help!

[Young&Ready]

I am a recently graduated LPN... hooray for me. I have been interviewing with several places, one of which is a position for hospice. My heart feels drawn to it but I am concerned that if offered and taken that it may hurt me because people say I will not be using most of the skills I learned in school since it is no longer curative treatment. Is this true? Will it hurt me trying to move to a different position once obtaining a higher degree?

Any advice or input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[klone, MSN, RN]

My husband has been a hospice nurse pretty much since he graduated 7 years ago. He can do venipuncture (because occasionally that's needed) but has admitted that he has lost pretty much all other 'technical' nursing skills (other than taking BPs and auscultating breath sounds). He's okay with that, though, because he's on the management/administrative track now.

Are you planning to go back to get your RN? If so, you will "relearn" many technical skills as you do your RN clinicals.

[Young&Ready]

yes. i plan on going on to get my BSN once I get into the grove of a new schedule as a nurse. I never thought of it that way....I suppose I would relearn/refresh those skills I no longer use.

Thanks!

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

Oh, I get weary of hearing people say "you'll lose all your skills" to nurses considering a career in hospice. Or LTC. Or dialysis. Or home care. Or school nursing. Or basically anywhere outside of the hospital. If your heart is in hospice, by all means take the job if offered. You'll learn the skills of a hospice nurse. Which is *perfect* for someone drawn to a career in hospice, right? Don't over think it.

[alrighThen]

Ditto BrandonLPN, that was well said. Do hospice. I wish I could do hospice; I love everything about the hospice concept. In the future you will be trained in the skills pertinent to your field. Nothing to stress over.