New Hospice Nurse says HI!

Specialties Hospice

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Hello everyone!

I've just changed jobs from med surg to hospice and will be starting on Oct 15th. It's in a hospital setting (very clean compared to med surg!), will have 4 patient load, with a mix of hospice, palliative, and med surg. I've already seen the reading list posted and will be starting my readings soon. I don't have a handbook for med surg so if anyone knows of a good one for that please share.

Any advice you care to share will also be appreciated. Thanks and I look forward to sharing my experiences here in the future.

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welcome to inpatient hospice!

acuity levels are much higher:

some w/heroic measures, most do not.

palliative pts will come and go.

most of our hospice pts stay til the end.

it's an honor working in this specialty.

i hope you find it as rewarding as i have.

it's important to have healthy outlets on your off-time.

you'll find your own unique way with coping.

for books, i used to have a ton.

but now i only use, Notes on Symptom Control in Hospice & Palliative Care, Peter Kaye.

best of everything in your new career.

leslie

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Welcome to the hospice specialty!

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Welcome to hospice! I've only been in this specialty for five months, but I can't imagine going back to tele/stepdown now, at least not full time (I'm still per diem at the hospital). I do home hospice, and the acuity even in the home can be unbelievable--versed gtts, morphine and fentanyl and dilaudid gtts, tube feeds and ports to access....initally I worried about "losing skills" in home hospice, but in fact I feel like my skills are actually sharper now. (Especially with ports...I was always scared of 'em before!)

Look forward to hearing more about your new position!

Andrea

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