Hospice or pain mgt curriculum in nursing school?

AlmostThere2011 · Sep 8, 2010

I don't know if this counts, but I go to a private Catholic college. It is a 2 year ASN program, then you can opt for an RN to BSN. Honestly, I'm not completely sure about the BSN portion, but I know in our first semester we covered some of it. It was under the "End of life issues" lecture. I know that every semester it is covered one way or another. Usually it is discussed with a Catholic slant. Their college, their program, their way. I like that it was addressed. For some reason last semester I ended up being assigned to a lot of pts that found out that they were dying. I guess it made it easier for me to not be afraid of them and their families. I hoped this helped :)

DayDreamin ER CRNP · Sep 8, 2010

I am a senior in a 4-year BSBN program. We are doing some critical care lectures this semesters but I don't see a lot on the schedule for pain management or Hospice care.

We had very little instruction on it in previous semesters either. I think we may have had one lecture on cancer/oncology patient care and one on pain management in pharm and in med-surg but nothing that really stood out to me.

We did, however, have several questions on our HESI test last semester about caring for a Hospice/cancer patient and most of us missed ALL of those 5-6 questions. We all commiserated that we really never covered any of those issues in school either.

I really think we are lacking in the end-of-life care aspect of nursing. I mean, we have learned about what happens in the body and how to recognize the signs, etc but we really have not covered some key elements yet.

I work on a family practice unit which is 'next door' to the oncology unit so we often get overflow and we often get patients on our floor that are on comfort measures too. I have learned a lot but none of it was learned in the classroom. Considering the amount of cancer/home health questions on our HESI and the lack of learning these things I would say that more emphasis needs to be placed in these areas of nursing.

We do not have a clinical for any of these areas. I guess we get a tiny taste of Hospice / HH in our Community class but that would be just I one or two days and not a detailed focus.

good luck with your paper and MSN!

CuriousMe · Sep 8, 2010

i am interested in knowing if the schools today are including any instruction on hospice, home health or pain management? i have been out of nursing school for 20 years and am now returning for an rn to msn bridge. i am doing a research paper and want to write about this. please reply and let me know if your school has such a program, how long it is and if there is any clinical to it. thanks!

yes, both are integrated pain management and hospice are taught throughout our curriculum. some of the students in my class have had clinicals with a hospice agency.

oh, i'm in a bs program (it's a 3 year program, after a year of pre-reqs).