Hospice Opportunities in Arkansas?

RKMARK · Dec 11, 2008

Hello. I live in Little Rock, and there are two primary Hospice organizations here. Arkansas Hospice is a non-profit agency with offices in Hot Springs, Cabot and Russellville. They have small inpatient units in LR, Hot Springs and a larger one in Russellville. From what I have experienced, they are the preferred one to work for because of their belief in their mission and the community support they receive. The other one is Hospice Home Care, which is a For-Profit organization. They have a large in-patient unit in LR, and also cover much of the mid-state area. However, they are undergoing some ownership changes, and it remains to be seen how this will affect them. Having experience with both, I would probably steer you towards Arkansas Hospice. They have frequent openings for RN case managers and PRN positions. If you do a search for either on Google, they will have their current openings posted. Arkansass Hospice pays their PRN RN's at a rate of $30.00/hr......and HHC pays $22.00. Good Luck and welcome to the Natural State.

Pokygirl · Dec 14, 2008

Wow! I posted that question a long time ago - Thanks for replying - very helpful information. When you say HHC pays $22 - does that mean the RN Case Managers? Right now I'm an RN in an In-patient unit. It's a staff position, so I don't think of it as PRN. We moved out here from LR but were considering moving back to either the Hot Springs area or the Northwest corner of the state - Bentonville-Springdale, etc. Non-profit is my preference also - thanks so much for replying!:wink2:

RKMARK · Dec 14, 2008

You are quite welcome. I apologize for potentially slipping up and quoting the PRN rate. I think the Case Managers and the In-Patient staff pay around $19-20 per hour with benefits. If you are moving to Hot Springs (I lived there for a few years and loved it), Arkansas Hospice operates an in-patient unit in the new St. Joseph Hospital.....which is a beautiful facility. I do see postings frequently for RN's there.....and the staff is great. The Bentonville/Springdale area has really grown, and there are some hospice organizations there. I think their pay would be comparable or perhaps better. I would suggest a Google search for "Hospice in Fayetville/Bentonville AR" to see. By the way, I am thinking about moving myself, and am curious about the employment climate for Hospice RN's there.....Phoenix or Scottsdale.....and what they pay for regular and PRN RN's is currently, if you might know. I would appreciate the information, and good luck in your move.

Pokygirl · Dec 18, 2008

That's OK. Out here, I'm no expert about pay of course - I've only had a couple jobs and don't have years of experience that (I'm hoping) might be an increase? Anyway the pay that I'm aware of is about $28/hour - days - to start in a PCU. I really don't know what the Case Managers make? At the hospital, I believe the PRN - I think we call them agency or registry nurses - can be in the $30's - probably depending on the area and experience. I have a friend who works for an agency and as a new nurse makes $34/hour and she mostly does home health anymore. Of course, the cost of living out here is higher, so it probably all evens out. Thank you for the information - right now, I have to wonder if I will ever be able to sell my home and move, but am hopeful the new year and new administration will bring a change. If you don't have a home to sell and can come out - now's the time - tons of foreclosures out here - it's a buyer's market for sure!

aknurs · Dec 26, 2008

There is a Community Hospice in Harrison.I the Nursing Staff is Hired/Provided by North Ark.Regional Medical Center....It was built,owned & is operated by "The Community". North Ark, provides the pay for the nursing staff, as a Service to the Community.

Pokygirl · Dec 31, 2008

Good to know - Thank you. With the economy in the tank, I don't when we'll be able to think about moving again, but all of this is good information that I'm hoping will come in handy one day. I see your "name" is aknurs - does that mean you are in Alaska now?

ichooselove · Jul 21, 2009

Hi, reading your post I thought for a second I had written them it sounded so much like my life now. I also am wanting to go back to the Ark to do hospice and I currently work at HOV in arizona. I was sorry to here my old hospice in the ark is for profit now. I use to work there and it just is so wrong!!!! anyway, did you go to arkansas? if so can you let me know how the hospice jobs are out there, thanks. I've been out here for over 16 years and am ready to beat the heat. currently caught in thehouse worth less then we owe on it crap but just about ready to toss it like half the state has:)

ichooselove · Jul 21, 2009

Hi I was just wondering if you were one of the nurses I use to work with for Hospice Homecare. I helped them start up and was sick to hear about them now being for profit. I was Amy Young then and I think you were one of 4 nurses in our office space. You worked there if you are who I think when I took off for Arizona . If so let me know . I now work for HOV the largest free standing hospice in the US, but kind of want to come home now.

RKMARK · Jul 21, 2009

Hello Amy: I just picked up your message and wanted to respond. Actually, I was not in Arkansas 15 years ago.....ironically I was living in Arizona at that time. Yes.....Hospice HomeCare is now a for profit organization. They do have a beautiful in-patient unit off of Bowman Road in west Little Rock (an area which has grown tremendously since you were last here). I began working for Arkansas Hospice (a non-profit) around six years ago. I loved the organization their true emphasis on the individual patient. Unfortunately, the woman who hired me suddenly passed away (between visits, for Gods sake), and she was replaced by a guy who had previously worked in the payroll department. As time went on, the situation became a bit awkward as he wanted to cross my personal boundries and became harassing.

I then went to Hospice HomeCare......and it has been different, yet still satisfing. Their emphasis is definitely on the bottom line. I used to do continious care (which I loved) but HHC does not do such duty. They had rather fill up their inpatient unit. They are also in some flux as they are facing a multimillion $$ fine for Medicaid fraud (cutting deals with local nursing homes). Things are changing slowly, as they have some new investors. We will see. They usually have openings for RN's (as does Arkansas Hospice)......and with your experience, you should have no trouble at all. Also, the big VA hospital next to UAMS is opening a pallative care center soon (next few months). They have great benefits and pay. Arkansas Hospice does pay better.....at HHC, I make $21.66/hr as a PRN nurse. You are probably used to a higher rate of pay, but again, your experience could easily warrant a higher rate. Let me know if I can answer any questions for you. Come on back......the property values here are still holding steady, and the cost of living still very reasonable. Hope this helps, and will give you any assistance I can. Sincerely, Robert Morgan

Pokygirl · Jul 21, 2009

Wow! Again, it's been about 7 months since the last post - I think I like this Allnurses thing!

And for Ichooselove - No, I haven't left for home yet. I'm still, perhaps foolishly, hopeful that things will turn around at least enough for me to able to sell my house vs. walk away from it. So we're doing some home improvements while we wait.

RKMark has sure given us some great info to work off of when we do go though - Thank you so much for that. Pity about your good boss dying and the changes that have gone in the organizations that you've worked for since. I don't work in administration, but out here, from what I've seen, many of the people who do are former nurses, so I try to believe that all this bottom-line mentality is just what it takes for the organization to survive anymore in order to continue to do the good work that they do.

To update you on job opportunities out here, again, you might want to wait. While the housing deals are still fabulous for a buyer - the job market? Not so much. There may still be a nursing shortage elsewhere, but not around here - at least not right now. From living here before, you know our elderly population waxes and wanes with the seasons. And with this economy I think many of them don't feel like they can afford the snowbird life, so we've had a lot of low-census days since April. I have a friend who just did refresher hours to get back into nursing - due to the economy - and she has literally put in over a 100 applications at the local hospitals. She has read that due to the economy a lot of "retired" nurses are doing the same and that too has put pressure on the nursing job market. Even the hospitals have even been converting some of their hospital beds to hospice beds in order to fill beds. We'll just have to see how things go in the fall. Thanks again!

ichooselove · Jul 30, 2009

Thank you for getting back to me. Believe it or now I was the second nurse hired at HHC. We were so not about the bottom line. I cic continuious care alot, and loved it. but there was no IPU then. I'm glad I did not stay to see the change. The VA thing sounds promising. I worked 12 years with Indian health Services out here with the apache so government employment i am not a strainger to. Thanks for the tip. I will check into that. I will probably have many more questions but am at work now so got to go. Again thank you for responding. Hope your day is going great. Bright Thoughts, amy