photorn

I was a Labor and Delivery nurse for 20 years in CA and now I work Hospice per diem. We are considering moving in the NW area of Montana,(Helena, Missoula, Kalispell areas). I am getting too old for Hospital work but really love Hospice. Not sure how Hospice works in Montana, (snow and all). I live in the desert now so driving to peoples homes is not an issue. Anyone from Montana who works as a Hospice nurse? I am also a photographer but until I can build up a client base I may need to suppliment my retirement with nursing. Hoping someone can shed a bit of light. I am going to visit the end of this month to try to check some things out. Thanks.

Thanks for the info. The reason I want to switch is: I lost my baby girl almost 6 years ago from a brain tumor and we had Hospice involved in her care. My dad died from Multiplemyeloma 12 years ago and we also had Hospice. It was great. It seems that since I lost my daughter my spiritual life changed. I feel that once we have recovered sufficiently enough from a trial that generally this may be an area God calls us to later to comfort others in similar situations. My interest since has shifted from birth to grief. I have even been thinking of teaching grief classes but need someone to take over my DivorceCare class that I teach presently so I can switch. Plus I have been in OB for 20 years and I am getting burned out from the hospital setting, tired of the commute and working 12 hour nights.

I interviewed with a Hospice agency yesterday and just thought I would see what you all think. I am new, OB nurse for 20 years. They said I could train until I was comfortable before being on my own. Generally how long do you think this is on the average? They also want me to do a ride along for 8 hours to see what it is like before I commit. I thought that was a great idea so I am going on Tuesday. What are some of the most important things I should ask this nurse? It is full time and I told her I wanted part-time. She seemed flexible with this and said I could work m-f for 6 hours/day. I would need to be on call one weekend every 2 months. When I said that I would have child care issues on the Monday morning she said they can probably work around that. She was really nice and it seems they will go out of there way to make it work out for everyone. It sounds great even though it would be a $14/hr cut for me. But I would no longer be driving 1 1/2 hours to work. It would also not be nights or 12 hour shifts anymore so I could still schedule photo shoots in the late afternoon (I just opened a photography business) so I am thinking this would be a good fit but not having any experience in this area thought I would see what you all think Thanks;)

Thanks for your replies. He has done so well that he never needed to be vented and actually came home Saturday. He has regained all of his motor functions except that his head control is back to when he was a newborn but they figure he will regain that with a bit of PT. Since they diagnosed him so quickly and he received that shot so quickly he has made a very rapid recovery. Only spent 2 weeks in the hospital. He has also had so many people praying for him which I am sure is what helped the most. Thanks again.

I am curious how many of you have had babies with Infant Botulism. My nieces baby has this and since he was diagnosed I have heard of two other babies with it as well. They all live in California and within a 20 mile radius. This just seems odd to me for a disease that is supposedly so rare. I realize that Calif has the highest rate but this has been in the last month. I wonder if it is just not diagnosed and under reported. Anyway I just thought I would ask. I work in L & D so I don't hear much about pediatrics. Fortunately for my niece her baby was diagnosed quickly received immuglobulin and the paralysis is subsiding. Thanks

My husband probably has a job we have been waiting for which means I can change jobs and switch to Hospice (lower pay) which is why I haven't made the change even though it is what I have wanted for awhile. I haven't even applied yet and I see there are several aspects of Hospice so am wondering if you can explain the responsibilities to me. I am an L&D nurse so which would be best given that info. Just a brief summary. What typically are the hours. Is it either during the week or weekends or both? Days or nights or both? How are the benefits as a rule do they match with say 50% for retirement? Just curious from your facility as I know there will be differences. Case manager Admission RN Hospice nurse Thanks, I am really excited that this may actually become a reality. No more driving 80 miles one way, yeh!

We do about 350 births a month and have a separate unit. If we float it is to our Perinatal High Risk Unit which is also separate. Rarely do we float to maty, though it can occasionally happen. I floated ther once in the last year and a half. We do our own c/s and recover them. No one has ever floated to peds. I prefer to stay in L&D. Mainly because the paper work is different that it gets stressful trying to figure it out on another unit since we float so rarely. Only RN's in our hospital can apply the EFM. Too much liability should the RN not look at it right away and there were problems with the FHR.

I have been an L&D nurse for 18 years now. Prior to this I taught Lamaze classes and also had my second baby at home. So I am one of those nurses who can see both sides. I work really hard to accomodate my patients wishes and generally get along very well with Bradley patients and Doula's. Although I don't recommend home births due to things I have seen since I have been a nurse I can understand wanting to limit some interventions that are not necessary for that particular birth. However the baby is always top priority and usually the parents are very accepting of that. A few months ago however that changed. I had a Bradley couple and they were so uncooperative that I really became stressed. There baby was not reactive on the monitor and although it was not having any decels it also was not having many accels. They kept taking the monitor off and taking the oxygen off. I kept putting it back on and explaining that I needed to closely watch their baby that I was slightly concerned and wanted to be sure it was ok. That she needed the extra oxygen for her baby. It was just a nightmare and I was so angry that their birth plan was more important then the health of their baby. After the babies birth they wanted to breastfeed while the baby was still blue and needing supplemental oxygen. Apparently they gave maty a really hard time as well. Ugh! I have since tried to avoid any Bradley patients, lol.

I have been a Labor and Delivery nurse for 18 years. I am really burning out in this field and need to make a change. My father had Hospice after he was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma about 12 years ago. I also lost my 8 wk old daughter 5 years ago to a brain tumor and we had Hospice care during her short life. They were wonderful. I am a Christian and have been feeling that maybe this is an area where God could use me and I could help these patients and their families. My worries are in L&D the drugs we use are quite limited. So where do I start to get myself educated in the drugs commonly used to control pain. Plus any other drugs that might be used. What skills do you need that possibly are skills I have not used in my department? :monkeydance: I guess I am a little anxious changing jobs after all these years and am worried about not having the right skills to change. Do they give you good training so you are not feeling overwhelmed? Thanks for any input