Is Hospice Nursing depressing?

prettymica, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN, APRN, NP · Nov 17, 2013

It wasn't for me,I loved hospice nursing, At this point I am burned out from driving all over town. I can state that some cases really made me emotional. You see a person week after week and chart the decline and stay with that person until they take a last breath. It can become an eye opening experience.

etnursing · Nov 17, 2013

I am a Hospice aide so I see the clients every single day. It's the most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life. It reminds me every single day how precious life is. I'm not sure of it is something I would do forever but it's an eye opening experience for sure.

MABSNRN · Nov 18, 2013

I have been doing hospice for the last two years after about twenty years of hospital/long term care nursing and I can tell you it is the LEAST depressing job I have ever had. I love the patients, the families and the job.

areensee · Nov 18, 2013

Depression is a clinical diagnosis. If you are prone to depression, you are likely to experience it regardless of what specialty you choose. Perhaps you should look to yourself to see what's going on inside, before looking at changing your area of nursing. Hospice is an extremely challenging area of nursing and you shouldn't get into it unless you are ready to look deeper into issues of life and death and your own thoughts, beliefs and attitudes about dying. After all, nearly every one of my patients will die. Becoming a hospice nurse is not just a career choice, it is a lifestyle choice. To answer your question, yes there will be nights when you can't sleep, there will be weeks when you have lost several patients and you will be physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted. Yet there will be days when you realize that there isn't a better kind of nursing to be doing--at least for myself. If you understand this last part, then maybe you can be a hospice nurse.

teterichko123 · Nov 18, 2013

I have had patients come on to my sub acute floor for rehab and turn into hospice. I am the kind of person who has always feared death but my hospice patients have given me an incredible view on death and dying. I have shed some tears but at the end the day I come away with the satisfactory feeling that death awaits us all. It has given me a greater appreciation of the life I love now. Every day I am reminded to appreciate my parents my boyfriend and my siblings more then ever before.

chopwood carrywater · Nov 18, 2013

Depression is a clinical diagnosis. If you are prone to depression you are likely to experience it regardless of what specialty you choose. Perhaps you should look to yourself to see what's going on inside, before looking at changing your area of nursing. Hospice is an extremely challenging area of nursing and you shouldn't get into it unless you are ready to look deeper into issues of life and death and your own thoughts, beliefs and attitudes about dying. After all, nearly every one of my patients will die. Becoming a hospice nurse is not just a career choice, it is a lifestyle choice. To answer your question, yes there will be nights when you can't sleep, there will be weeks when you have lost several patients and you will be physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted. Yet there will be days when you realize that there isn't a better kind of nursing to be doing--at least for myself. If you understand this last part, then maybe you can be a hospice nurse.[/quote']
This is true. But i feel that different people/nurses handle these issues and feelings differently: we are all different. That being said, there are a lot of commonalities we humans share, and it is wonderful to learn or teach new experiences to each other. Not all of these will be 'good' but that's ok. I am grateful and honored to help my patients and their families in the final hours, days, and months of life.
At the inpatient facility where I work there are different nurses with different views and skills and I have admire and respect each of them.
There's always more to say but I hope this helps.
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dottimur · Nov 19, 2013

I have been a hospice nurse for 3 years and it is my calling. I enjoy the down time between patients driving sometimes 50 miles between patients (but most usually less than 5 miles). The way I look at dying is that it is a sacred event just as important as being born (and in my spiritual belief a birth in itself to a different world). I prefer admissions work which is good because a lot of people don't like that. I go to a family's home, a nursing home and rarely a hospital to evaluate or admit a patient to hospice. We treat the whole family not just the patient because it is obviously a difficult time for the families as well. I educate on what hospice will provide and the care the patient and family will receive. I tell people about our social workers who can help them navigate many things they didn't know they might have to do. I let them know about our chaplains and the care they provide. I tell them about the nurses, medical directors and aides that will be coming to see the patients 4 times a week.

Before I do that I get the opportunity to listen to the patient's story about how they came to this point medically. I assess the patient's need for equipment (oxygen, bed, nebulizer, etc) and facilitate getting the equipment delivered. I assess the patient's medications and suggest medications to fill holes (for example, a COPD patient who has breathing medications but no anxiety meds may need to add an anxiety medication) and I get the medications that need to be added or refilled (with physician approval of course). Hospice is there to assess, comfort, teach and manage symptoms.

I love being able to spend a great deal of quality time assessing the patient, their family and their needs. I love the autonomy of getting what they need to be more comfortable. I do not feel that this job is depressing. I have learned so much about disease process and how a disease process evolves. I have autonomy and the people I work with are amazing.

If you can, try to shadow an RN case manager to see what they do. Pick someone with a positive attitude.

cmfrt_care_rn · Nov 21, 2013

I don't find it to be depressing at all! I enjoy getting to know the patients and families and they usually are grateful for your help, which can't often be said in nursing! To me, ICU would be depressing, as I would sometimes be feeling like too much is being done to keep people alive. I consider my job to be an honor and privilege.

TammyG · Nov 21, 2013

I could have written dottimur's post. I also love hospice nursing and find it uplifting. I am sometimes euphoric when I leave, as weird as that sounds, because I am so happy that I helped to give someone a good death. I have never found it depressing. However, as chopwood said, people react differently to having their patients die. You often get to know these families very well, and it can be difficult to experience their grief over and over.

I am not sure how you'll know how you will react unless you do it. I hate to discourage anyone from hospice, but if you are having some doubts now, it may not be right for you.