Ideal Hospice Working Conditions

[C. Southern, ADN, ASN]

I am helping a company to kick start their hospice and they really want to create a hospice in which their nurses are taken care of well above market grade. They want their nurses and other staff to be retained because they are treated the best. 

That being said I wanted to ask a few questions to seasoned hospice nurses.

1. What is most important in a hospice employer?
2. How do you prefer to be paid? By the visit/admission or by the hour?
3. How do you like your day to be structured? Do you like to have the same patients every visit and follow that patient through their journey or do you like to work different cases as needed?
4. What support is incremental to the success of nurses and aides in hospice?
5. Any tips for making life easier for our future nurses?

Thank you! I am really looking forward to my fellow nurses input!

[vampiregirl, BSN, RN]

1. Allowing the clinical staff to spend the time needed at visits to provide quality care. Not all visits fit neatly into an hour block of time. 

2. Hourly pay. Sometimes coordinating care takes time and that's not part of a visit.

3. It depends. Sometimes I have patients/ caregivers who benefit from consistency other times having a different nurse make a visit is helpful. Different nurses have different thoughts on this - when possible, allowing each nurse to make this choice.

4. Leadership offering support to staff. Having clear expectations. Knowing where I can get guidance if I have a situation come up that needs addressed. 

5. Creating positive/ supportive work environment that provides quality care to the persons it serves. Leadership truly understanding what it's like to be out in the field. Respect among employees is a clear expectation. Also recognizing that each employee has different interests and needs, helping them to figure out where they "fit" in the company. Promoting self care. When less than ideal circumstances occur (limited staffing, high acuity patients etc), acknowledging the challenge and implementing temporary things (if needed) to address concerns. For example - our administrator and our marketing director made several supply deliveries to patients when we had a couple of very challenging days.