makeitwork BSN, RN

makeitwork has 13 years experience as a BSN, RN and specializes in Hospice and palliative care.

Latest Activity

1. Best handbooks/textbooks/resources for a new Hospice Nurse?

   makeitwork replied to Possum_RN's topic in Hospice

   When studying for my CHPN exam I used the HPNA Core Curriculum book (ISBN-13: 978-1-4652-7728-2). I felt this book filled so many knowledge gaps related to hospice for me and still feel all hospice nurses should have this book as a hospice primer.

2. Hi looking for some home hospice nelp

   makeitwork replied to Jesse.jean's topic in Hospice

   Prior to going into hospice, I simply browsed this category looking for topics that I wanted more information about on that particular day. I spent many days reading about this field of nursing because I was told, "You will know within six weeks of ...

3. What Has Happened to Hospice?

   makeitwork replied to Tencat12's topic in Hospice

   I had a caseload of 20 only after we lost a couple of case managers to attrition and it was not for very long. In the past five years I have worked for two hospice agencies and both would do what they could to keep case loads in the 10-14 range. I ...

4. How do you reply to compliments about your profession?

   makeitwork replied to VulgarProphet's topic in Hospice

   I commonly say something like, "I feel this is where I am supposed to be" or "This was definitely a calling" or "You would be surprised how much good this job makes me feel by helping people at this time of their life." I then get the head nod and s...

5. What would you do?

   makeitwork replied to BerryhappyRN's topic in Hospice

   To me this is a bit of a no-brainer. Go to where you are being led. We have to define "taking a step back." I see this as you stepping forward to where your heart is leading you. Stepping up is not always stepping forward. I stepped "down" from...

6. A "Thank You"

   makeitwork replied to motor_mouth's topic in Hospice

   I wish you all the best in your career! I hope the field that chooses you will be as rewarding as it has for me.

7. A "Thank You"

   makeitwork replied to motor_mouth's topic in Hospice

   You are welcome...it is an honor to care for our patients. I am sorry for the loss of your family member. The field of hospice can always use more good nurses. May I recommend you give it a little time, say six months, until making a move? In fact...

8. Case Load Home Care

   makeitwork replied to ocdstacy's topic in Hospice

   I am in Washington State and have worked for two different hospice agencies. Each one tried to keep us at 12 cases or less, but, I have had as many as 20 for a very short time when we were understaffed. I hope that helps.

9. Get to shadow a hospice nurse, advice?

   makeitwork replied to skydancer7's topic in Hospice

   I am sorry I did not see your post sooner. How did the shadowing go?

10. Palliative Standing Orders

    makeitwork replied to notanumber's topic in Hospice

    What stands out for me is the fentanyl patch. If a patient is already taking one or more of the short-acting analgesics, a 24-hour morphine equivalent is calculated and then a fentanyl equianalgesic dose can be calculated allowing better initial pai...

11. HH or Home Hospice? Which one??

    makeitwork replied to mb55's topic in Home Health

    Over the last four-plus years in hospice I have met several co-workers that worked in the ICU. The common thread was that they were tired of seeing patients whose families would not let their loved on go and they kept them on life support even if the...

12. How many visits per day? (Case Management)

    makeitwork replied to nurseontheway's topic in Hospice

    "The majority of your visits will be 30-45 minutes." A short visit for me would be 45 minutes. We not only talk to the patient/family providing emotional support and education, but, we do the assessment, medication reconciliation, orders (as neede...

13. Do you hospice nurses attend funerals of patients?

    makeitwork replied to Butterfly0328's topic in Hospice

    I rarely attend memorials or funerals of my patients. I need that separation/work-life balance. When I have attended, I try to sit or stand in the back and learn more about the patient's life--these events certainly allow for that. I feel this is t...

14. FAST scale in patients with dementia as hospice diagnosis

    makeitwork replied to elsbets's topic in Hospice

    I hope the nurse that charted is not the same one that documented the FAST of 7b. If so, and you see this often, it sounds like a training issue for this nurse and/or the nursing staff.

15. I did it! I finally found my niche.

    makeitwork replied to Clint1076's topic in Hospice

    Way to go! Once some of the excitement levels out make sure you find work/life balance. I have found that I ended up getting to involved emotionally and my up and downs became very extreme.