Hospice as 1st RN job after graduation?

edmia, BSN, RN · Oct 12, 2014

The only reason I would suggest hospital experience is so that you have knowledge with the various appliances people live with (foleys, PEGs, trachs, pleurex drains, etc). If you've had hands on experience with these things in LTC, then I see no reason to not go straight into hospice.

lifelearningrn, BSN, RN · Oct 12, 2014

I agree with edmia- you've already got some good skilled experience, I say go for it!

duskyjewel · Oct 14, 2014

My hospice hires new grads often. I'm counting on that for myself when my time comes.

MidLifeRN2012 · Oct 29, 2014

I graduated from nursing school 2 1/2 years ago with a BSN and just got my first hospital job 6 months ago in a psych unit.

I am interested in working in hospice but in psych you don't do all the procedures that I learned in school so I haven't done them since school ( foleys, IV meds, never did IV starts). We only do PO and IM meds.

With only 6 months of hospital experience in psych how can I get into the hospice environment? Will they train 'new nurses ' in skills that are very rusty ?

lifelearningrn, BSN, RN · Oct 29, 2014

The training offered really depends on the company. I will say that you will not be starting a whole lot of IVs in home hospice (you might in a GIP unit). You may have to do foleys/straigh cath, but that's a matter of getting a little practice and you'll be good to go. Assessment, education and wound care are the skills I used daily in home care. Give it a try.. I love Hospice. If you work for a supportive company, than they will back you up when you need extra help getting skills you're out of practice on (you may see a trach, or feeding tube, etc.). IVs are generally last resort in hospice, and from what I understand, we would do subcutaneous fluids rather than IV if we decided hydration was necessary.

ShesanRN · Oct 29, 2014

I went in to hospice from long term care, and even though I'd been a nurse for 3 years there were things I'd never done outside of clinicals: start IVs, draw blood, etc. I was great with wound care, though, and working with difficult patients (psych issues). We would "pool" our skills and help each other, and it's the same in hospice. If a patient has a J-P drain or something else we've not all dealt with or seen in awhile, we have a mini-inservice to refresh as well.

If you approach it all with a can-do attitude and willing spirit, you'll get the knowledge you need to help each patient, no worries! :)

Raviepoo · Oct 29, 2014

The training offered really depends on the company. I will say that you will not be starting a whole lot of IVs in home hospice (you might in a GIP unit). You may have to do foleys/straigh cath, but that's a matter of getting a little practice and you'll be good to go. Assessment, education and wound care are the skills I used daily in home care. Give it a try.. I love Hospice. If you work for a supportive company, than they will back you up when you need extra help getting skills you're out of practice on (you may see a trach, or feeding tube, etc.). IVs are generally last resort in hospice, and from what I understand, we would do subcutaneous fluids rather than IV if we decided hydration was necessary.

All of the things you mention in your post are done pretty regularly in my long term care environment. I got this (I think.)

leepoole · Nov 5, 2014

I went to nursing school for a job in hospice only. After nursing school I was "made" to believe a job in the hospital was the only route to take to be marketable. I didn;t last long in the hospital setting. I was hired shortly after that with Hospice. I have been there for over 2 years..... if you have the heart for hospice you can learn the rest. I will tell you it is not easy but with a supportive team that believes in you you can be a successful hospice nurse right out of nursing school! Good Luck.

PomMom65 · Nov 6, 2014

I worked with my hospice organization as a CNA. I am an LPN now. I graduated and my boss hired me on our inpatient unit as a brand new nurse. I love my job. I am now in the LPN - RN bridge program and will graduate in 9 months. I will continue to work on my unit as an RN. Nursing is a 2nd career for me. I am 50 years old. I have had nurses tell me not to start a career in hospice that I would lose my skills or not get the med/surg experience. My bottom line is that I do not care. This is what I love doing. I am not looking to set the world on fire at 50 years old. I feel like this is the fit for me. I hope you love hospice as much as I do.

PomMom65 · Nov 6, 2014

We give a lot of medication via SQ line. We do not infuse fluids that way, but we rarely infuse fluids. Our facility guidelines state no more than 3mL per hour via SQ line. Almost any of the medications we use can be given via SQ.