Looking into working in Home Hospice

ErinDel, ASN, BSN, RN · Jun 28, 2019

On 6/24/2019 at 11:25 AM, MrMango said:
Greetings all!
I'm a registered nurse from New England who is looking for a change of pace.
My background: I've been a RN since 2014, I've worked in Chronic & Acute Hemodialysis in both an outpatient clinic and a hospital setting for four years, and have spent the last year as a Nurse Coordinator in Pain Management. My job now is.... ok. It's not as much patient interaction as I had hoped and I dislike the lack of clinical skills in my position.
I've been looking into a new specialty in nursing. I've always had an interest in home hospice nursing, as I feel like I can connect with patients & families very well and it's a good use of my compassion. I have much experience with death in patients, as anyone who works/worked in hemodialysis, its frequent among that patient population.
A few questions:
1. What are the hours like typically? M-F? Autonomy?
2. Home-Work balance. Are the two able to separate? Will patients/families be calling me on off-hours? Will I work on my days off? Will I be charting at home after my shift?
3. Any companies/organizations to avoid?
4. How to begin looking for hospice RN jobs?
5. Questions to ask during the interview?
Any and all information is helpful! Thank you so much, look forward to the discussion!

Hi, I work in hospice. I am a per diem RNCM. i manage cases and I see patients at home, in LTC, and ALF. It is a rewarding job at times to be able to be there for your patients and their families. to be able to educate on end of life, provide support, and work with an IDT. Yes it is a typical Mon to Fri job, unless you work call or on the weekends. The home work life balance is tough.. you will be charting at home. the documentation is alot.. i feel that you spend more time documenting than actually being with the patient. depending on the company you work for, it will determine how your home work life balance will be. I work for a small for profit company in Massachusetts and I am beginning to take on more than i want, so I spoke up and said what I will do and what I prefer not to do and my company tries to accomodate that, but at the end of the day it still is all about the money and how many admissions they can cram in. I would definitely look for a company that has seperate admission nurses so you do not get stuck doing the revisits, recertifications, and admissions... thats just my opinion. Good luck with your search!!

pmabraham, BSN, RN · Jun 29, 2019

I work as an RN case manager mainly dealing with home patients, and a small handful of facility patients (SNF, ALF, GIP in a hospital setting).

1. What are the hours like typically? M-F? Autonomy?

Monday through Friday including holidays unless PTO time requested and approved. 8 AM until the day is done with an average week being 40 hours; some weeks are 36, some 43. Rare occasions of 70 to 80 hours in a week.

2. Home-Work balance. Are the two able to separate? Will patients/families be calling me on off-hours? Will I work on my days off? Will I be charting at home after my shift?

If you set boundaries yes. If you don't give patients your personal cell phone, they will not call you after hours. If you do all the charting in the home (advisable), then only IDG notes and coordination notes after visits.

Thank you.