Hospicetex

I am so sorry! I hate when that happens. I hope that you get some sleep. Weekend Hospice call is very difficult and I don't think our patients or their families really understand they are not our only patient or family which is as it should be...but it can be very taxing on us. I hope that you are off Monday after you give report. I would have felt exactly the same way as you do.

Hugs butterfly! It is a requirement at my office that we attend all of our patients funerals and we are able to reschedule to do this. At the prior hospice company I worked for it wasn't possible for me to attend funerals as they did not rearrange the schedule to permit this. I used to go to visitation when that happened but attended a funeral of one of my patients this past week. I was very happy I was able to and the family was pleased to see me there.

We are getting a lovely .32 per mile with gas being 3.89 this weekend. I have spent at least 100 on gas for call this weekend and it isn't over yet! I do have a great mileage car but it has bugged me this weekend as reimbursement will not be what I have paid...I am not sure how many miles so far but have filled up three times.

The company I work for now uses and provides them. I really don't like it, but do see the appropriateness of using a pulse ox in the admission process as a general baseline measurement. My thought is why use it on a routine VS? What are we going to do with the information? I think it tends to increase stress in family members who will focus on a number..

It is frustrating and we have one of those here with nightly prn visits. They just don't want to be on board with the POC but I know the nurse is doing everything she can in regards to education.

Hope today is a better day for you. It can be very frustrating at times and you sound like a great nurse doing exactly what the patient needs you to do.

That's true! We are told when they call go no matter what...I do use my judgement and if a facility says they are just calling to report and don't want a visit then I don't go. I also don't go when med refills for Monday are needed unless they need them delivered during the weekend. I do love it when my boss doesn't answer the pager and apologizes for "being asleep" when I would be written up for not answering the phone/beeper while on call.

Which is why I am now employed elsewhere. I too have worked for a company with similar values and our patients do deserve so much better than that!

I really thought you were referring to my present boss. I swear you are my work partner! I have finally found a new job at another hospice. I am so hopeful that it is the professional place that places emphasis on patient care and those that care for the patient. They actually have real benefits, insurance and some perks for the employees..and if it is more like where I am presently I will move on. As others have said we are all valued human beings with lives, lives to lead that are not job related. I love hospice nursing but I don't love working 24/7 and not being appreciated, I am pair of hands with a license at my current place of employment and that is why I am leaving. I have no other value to them.

Are you in my office? Things have gotten so out of control where we are. Our call has increased to the point that I am breaking and have accepted a new job at another Hospice and will give my notice next week. I do not want to take call three times weekly and every other weekend and work 50 hours a week. I too have a life which needed my attention, children that need my attention, laundry that really needs my attention. I think written notice is proper protocol. But I have to tell you I have twinges of guilt because I will be the fourth nurse to leave this month. I also hate the term field nurse, I am a professional and behave in a manner that is professional but we too have that facebook, shopping, and goofing off problem within the office. It just makes my job harder when I order meds or DME from a remote location and it isn't ordered or sent out. Patients should be the priority not facebook updates!

Like you I have been a RN for many years but that first weekend on call I called my back up more times than I would like to admit. She was great and I really appreciated her but it was very overwhelming. I think with a couple of weekends under your belt you will more comfortable. I occasionally call my PCC on the weekend but only with an issue I haven't addressed before. It takes a couple of times to get the hang of it and our PCC's are available if we need them. Good luck!

I have been in a Hospice a year now, not very long but a very eye opening year. I make almost ten dollars an hour less then I did at the hospital. I have been a nurse > 15 years. But with call and mileage I manage. I don't do it for the money because there really isn't enough compensation for sleepless nights, worn tires, huge mileage on my car, giving comfort and reassurance to a family, holding someone's hand while they pass, being a part of such an intimate and difficult period in a family's life, and making a difference in the lives of those you touch. Hospice is nursing the patient and the family and whether it be scrambling eggs for a hungry patient, bathing a patient, to singing hymns for a dying soul it is something you do because it is right and comforting. I don't know if fifty dollars an hour would be enough compensation because this you do because it is a calling...there is never enough compensation to do what we do. I wish you luck in your Hospice career and hope that you love it as much as we do.

You know I forgot to add in my post that I have also called the answering service and given addresses and details when I get spooked or things don't seem quite right and that if I don't answer in such a such time or call them by a time frame to please call 911. I have only done that once but things were very creepy and I was quite nervous.

Usually in the less savory areas I am on constant alert and watching my surroundings. I have had many families meet me at the door and walk me back to the car. The families are usually as fond of us as we are of them and they don't want bad things to happen to us. I have been nervous going a few times but so far so good and to be truthful I have been more nervous at three in the afternoon in the hood then 1 am.

I wanted to give you a standing ovation but it would only let me give you one kudo! I am looking for another job. I do love Hospice nursing and feel it is where I belong but at the end of the day I belong to my family and my life. Your right in each point you made. I know there are other hospice agencies that appreciate their employees.