Hospice Interview Questions

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Hello all!

I am considering a switch to hospice nursing. I've worked for several years in community-based case management (verbal assesment; no "hands-on") and have had three years of medical surgical hospital nursing in the past. I love making home visits and am looking to work in a more spiritually-oriented area of nursing.

Could anyone recommend what type questions I should ask a prospective employer to help me decide if 1) the workload is reasonable, and 2) they/I would be a good fit?

Also, for any nurses in Georgia, can you tell me what the typical pay rate is for a full-time Hospice nurse?

Thanks advance for any advice ya'll can offer!

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If you have to ask about a "reasonable workload" then it's not for you

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If you have to ask about a "reasonable workload" then it's not for you

I disagree. Some hospices do have a great deal of support for their case managers and have reasonable workloads - ours does. I would ask what the maximum case load would be. Our hospice does not make us take more than 12 - and on occasion, 13. We have prn nurses to help with the load if the acuity is high. I don't know what the average salary would be in GA, but I can tell you that it is probably less than what you are used to making -- especialy without any previous hospice experience. I hope that won't deter you. Hospice work is the most rewarding work that I have ever done and I would rather make less money doing this than anything else.

Another important question is how much on-call you will have to do. Some hospices require a lot and some, none at all.

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Originally Posted by QuigRN

If you have to ask about a "reasonable workload" then it's not for you

If you don't know the importance of a reasonable workload, then you must not have a life.

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I think our home care nurse's workload is 10-12 cases. Sometimes its less and ocassionally goes up to 13-14. I work on the patient unit so I'm not absolutely sure. We do have PRN nurses to help when census is high.

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