LemonIndiscretion

I did palliative care for a bit, My hospice agency had me see palliative patients (basically mostly patients with cancer still seeking treatment), their goal was to bridge them over to our hospice. I enjoyed it but became overwhelmed at times, trying to balance my hospice and palliative patient's needs, plus I had no designated palliative team- no support- it was very challenging but I felt like I really helped quite a few people, even when their goals and beliefs didnt exactly match up with the hospice philosophy, wish I had more structure and support around me to assist them more. Ultimately our hospice grew and they needed me for just hospice patients Good luck!

I've done home health and hospice and I find the documentation equal. Hospice requires more frequent family phone calls, documentation for IDT, documentation for care plan meetings for facilities. Not to mention constant med changes! I find hospice more challenging but more rewarding... Never going back to skilled home care!

I also work for a smaller-ish agency. My current case load is 23, mix of home patients and facility, more facility but I'm in 4 buildings. I'm managing... Earlier this year I was on call every day for 2 months straight with a few weekend days off here and there when my clinical manager was feeling generous. I had a case load in the 30's AND did they majority of training of 4 nurses. But... we are good now!!! I'm only on call 1-2 days a week AND I have every weekend off (which I spend a huge portion of documenting but I'm really not complaining!) Life is good right now. We are on call 5pm to 8am and we have someone who works friday-sunday 8am-8am which is a blessing!

First off Good luck on the exam! I took it on the 17th of this month and passed with an 85! I've only been doing hospice for 9 months but I have oncology/ palliative experience (about 2 years) and I studied for one month. Techically I studied for 3 week because I went on vacation and didn't touch a thing. I read the core curriculum front to cover and did all the practice questions. study guide There were alot of oncology questions on mine so I really lucked out Spend a lot of time on symptom management and pain management. I had a few math questions, (know opioid equivalent conversions!) I do not think you need to take a prep course.

My case load right now is 30... I'm also on call every other week for a whole week at a time... 5pm-8am then work regular work day then Friday 5pm-Monday 8am with literally no help whatsoever... lord help me!

Y'all I'm dying right now because of on call... it was every 4 weeks, 7 days straight... then it was every 3 weeks, now it's every other week so 7 days on call 5pm to 8Am then 5pm Friday through Monday morning at 8am then I have to do a regular work week...sometimes I take a day off during the day but right now that's pointless since I have a caseload of 30 so If I take a day off during the week I end up seeing them Saturday, plus admissions, revisits, chart Evals, prn visits etc... my job makes me feel like I'm whining if I say that something doesn't feel right or say one day I just literally cannot do another admission... they make me feel like I'm the weak link or something when I'm one of two nurses right now and the other nurse has a case load of 12 because many facilities do not like her. We have an LPN who's amazing and helps with revisits. I'm also training 3 nurses right now... I've never felt so burnt out in my entire life! Is this an anamoly in the hospice world or am I being a little dramatic? Dont think anyone will see this since it's an old thread...

I got a job at a home health agency as a new grad, was asked to be part of the chemo team after 4 months, got the ONS cetification in April (agency paid for it), started doing chemo disconnects and hydrating clients with cancer in their homes, and just got a per diem position at a cancer center! It took 8 months but I'm hoping it turns into full time, Good lucK

Rhode Island

I've removed a few in the home, to do so I need to see the xray and I need measurements, I pull then measure to make sure nothing is left behind, then apply occlusive dressing

Anyone else doing them? My HHA paid for me to get my ONS certification to give chemo/biotherapies in February/March last year... Since then I've been doing 5 FU disconnects, accessing/deaccessing clients' ports for hydration/ IV pain medication etc... There are only 3 of us doing it so we cover a HUGE territory, like 150-200 miles a day and I have no idea where I'm going until the night before. We're also responsible for bridging clients' with cancer to hospice often, plus we see other clients with PICCs who are on antibiotics and other IV meds. Also if a client's port is leaking or their pump is malfunctioning we HAVE to go out, myself and one of the other nurses take turns... I'm wondering how other angencies handle the chemo disconnects I love my job but it's very stressful! Any tips/ pointers/ suggestions would be helpful! Thanks!

Admission nurse should do it

Hi nurseinstinct! I'm now on the IV team, doing mostly chemo clients, it's stressful and I cover a huge territory but I LOVE IT! I'm still case managing for an LPN but am slowly giving that responsibilty up because we're getting so many chemo referrals. I have a lot of clients with pancreatic cancer now and we've been helping them bridge to hospice when they're ready which is challanging but very rewarding. I haven't even thought about grad school... I think I'd need at least 5 yrs experience doing this, probably because I spent 6.5 years in school and I'm just not ready yet!

My pay was 30$ per visit for the first few months, then additional $ to case manage, I'm at 40$/visit Nurses who have hospital experience start out 40-45$ per visit. Nurses who have worked in a hospital say they make more in home health, hope that helps

I live in Rhode Island Graduated with BSN in May 2013 Passed NCLEX end of July, I started seriously looking for jobs in August, went on 3 interviews after applying for a few dozen jobs, in September interviewed at my current job but didnt start until beginning of November. So 4 months or 2 months depending on how you look at it :)

My pay sucked at first but right now I'm at 32$ per visit 64$ for an admission,it's much less than what the other nurses with experience make. I do between 32-34 visits per week and work 5-6 days per week.