Exploring Hospice Nursing

[Dawg_RN]

I've been an RN for 14 years now (9 years in a CVICU and 5 years in Infection Prevention and grabbed an MPH along the way) but the idea of transitioning into a role as a hospice nurse has been on my mind and heart for a while now. I've been reading articles and scrolling through past postings on this site to see if I can get a better feel for whether this is something which would be right for me and while I'm leaning in that direction I have concerns. I haven't been involved in direct patient care in almost 6 years and I have no experience in hospice or palliative care nursing, outside of taking care of our heart patients (and their families) who never fully recovered or who passed away in our care. I suppose I have a couple questions...

Has anyone else done the whole dramatic change in nursing roles thing? What helped you when you made your change? Is there anything you wish you had done differently?

For those of you in this role right now, what are some of the things you wish you had known before you started?

Are there any quality online certificates or training classes that would at least give me the background knowledge I need to transition into a role like this? I know there's certification for after you've been working at it a while, but I'm looking for something that will give me the basics and background that I either never learned in nursing school, have changed since school or that I have forgotten along the way.

Really at this point any thoughts, suggestions or resources would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks :)

[LaurieCRNP2002, MSN, RN, APRN]

A resource to consider is the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association Home. Good luck and welcome to the hospice world!

Laurie