Loving my new Hospice LVN position

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I just wanted to say that I'm new to hospice, just finished my first week on my own. So far I absolutely love it. I came from LTC where I frequently came home in tears from the stress. I was certain I didn't want to be a nurse anymore and was looking into going back to school. This job kind of fell in my lap. I love the interaction with the patients and families. I know there will be difficult times but I have never felt so appreciated as a nurse in any other job. In LTC most pts dreaded seeing me because they didn't want to take their meds or have me do a tx. Most families were upset about something, usually something another nurse did or didn't do. I'm so glad I decided to try another field and for anyone wanting something less stressful and more fulfilling, give hospice a try.

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That's great! It's all about finding your niche and what your comfortable with. :)

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I am so happy to see your post about this. At this exact moment, I am sitting here thinking about how much I HATE my LTC job. I love my residents, don't get me wrong, but the stress is unbelievable. I worked 18 hours on Friday! I had 3 new admissions, a resident fell, one new resident is on peritoneal dialysis, which I had never done before, and the dialysis nurse came in to give us an inservice on it. I still had all my charting to do, plus the paperwork on the fall and the assessments on the new admissions. I was soooo stressed. I was just thinking about a new direction to try with my nursing career. Maybe hospice will be my next endeavor!

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I know how you feel..I lasted about 4 months in LTC! I knew I could not spend the rest of my career with that kind of stress. My new job is a lot of driving, but I make my own schedule and have plenty of time to spend with my patients and their families. And they genuinely appreciate me being there for them. Good luck with whatever you choose to do!

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I have also recently found hospice and I absolutely LOVE it! I have been a nurse for 3 years, and I have done LTC and doctors office work. Always long hours and crazy shifts, with high level of stress. I started as a hospice nurse for continuous care in December and couldn't be any happier. I do 3- 12 hour night shifts (tues/wed/thur) and have plenty of time with my husband and kids. And it is truly a rewarding job. This is why I wanted to be a nurse, to help patients and their families. Some may think this would be a stressful job, but it is the opposite. What you can do for patients and their families at the EOL is amazing.

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I'm in the same position as many of you. I currently work on a short-stay/rehab unit on the 11p-7a shift. Being a new grad and fresh off orientation I'm still getting up to speed, but finding it difficult with 32 patients. There are so many tasks throughout the night and it seems like there's always several things happening at once that get me behind. I feel like I can barely spend any time with my patients, except for giving meds and that's not why I became a nurse. I really want to be able to spend time with my patients and their families, so I've been considering hospice as a way to really make an impact in someone's life and feel like I'm doing something good for my patients. Can anyone give me info on what your day is typically like? How many patients do you have, what you do, how much time you spend with them, etc.?

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I know some hospices operate differently but I'll tell you a little about mine. I'm an LVN. I work M-F with one weekend on call a month. I usually have 10-15 pts that I see 2x a week. I get paid from 8am-5pm and in that time I typically see 5-8 pts and chart. each visit lasts about 30min-1hr, depending on the pt and what they need. I drive to see pts in their home, assisted living or SNF. Usually a visit consists of a full assessment including pain and comfort management, giving supplies, checking/refilling meds, assessing effectiveness of meds and ordering new meds. A lot of the job is talking with the family, tons of education about dse process and med admin, and helping them deal with the whole process. My day is usually pretty flexible and I'm able to make my own schedule, usually I can spend as much time with my pts as they need. For an RN the job is similar except they are case managers, so they see less pts per week and have a lot more paperwork, they coordinate the care of their pts with the whole team.

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Specializes in psychiatric nursing.

I am currently a recent grad RN who has been working at a Post Acute facility for 10 months. We have some long term patients and some rehab patients. I do love working with my residents, but I also HATE the job, for all the reasons stated above.

I had sent resumes out to local hospice companies, but I am getting rejection emails, because I don't have the "1-2 years acute experience". How does one get around this?

I feel I am qualified for hospice work. I did my community health rotation at a hospice, and in my entry level masters MSN program, I did my masters thesis on palliative care of elderly patients with ESRD. Furthermore, at the SNF I work at, I have taken care of a lot of hospice patients in the facility.

I might add, I am living in the Sacramento, CA area, where there are NO jobs for recent grads. I have put out a lot of resumes.

I'm very discouraged and on the verge of a nervous break down because the SNF that I work at is so dysfunctional and is such a toxic environment (due to politics, back-stabbing other employees) I just can't stay there much longer, but I need to work and pay my bills.

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I spent over a year looking for a job after I graduated, in CA. Could only get in with a SNF. I was super lucky to find out I knew someone who worked at the Hospice company I'm currently at. She gave me a reference and I was able to get an interview. From there I was able to talk myself in. luckily my company doesn't require acute care experience. An RN who was hired at the same time as I was is a new grad, no experience. So I know there are hospices that will hire you. I know how difficult it is and my only advice is to stay persistent. If you can get an interview you can talk up your experience and explain why you'd be right for hospice. good luck!

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