Hospice Case Manager?

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Can anyone tell me how much direct patient care is done as a hospice Case Manager?  I have CM experience, but haven't done any patient care in quite some time.  Do the hospice CMs do the same thing as Hospice nurses?  Thank you.

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Specializes in Hospice.

RN Case managers in Hospice see anywhere from 3-6 patients on average per day. Your job is direct patient care.

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I would say at least 75% of your day as a hospice CM is spent doing patient care. As the case manager, you are assigned a caseload of patients (hopefully 12-14 max). Your job as the case manager is to visit those patients weekly or as required- some patients may need 2-3x weekly visits, or even daily if they're actively dying. Those visits consist of nursing assessment and vitals, and education to the family regarding what is happening to their loved one. I often would help with turning/changing if applicable if it needed to be done while I was there since I could get a good skin assessment by doing so. You'll also be doing things like post mortem care during death visits. 

The other 25% of your day is spent coordinating care. This could be returning calls from other patients/families for care questions, following up on new orders needed, talking to your interdisciplinary team, etc. 

 

Hope that helps!

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Specializes in Hospice.

Excellent review! I completely agree with this rundown. 

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