oncalllorraine

Hands down, my vote is for hospice care. Either in home, or facility. Preferably a non-profit. There is a learning curve, of course, but not so much technical knowledge, as it is a totally different mindset. I liken it to 'labor and delivery', at th...

yes, there is sometimes what i call the smell of death. i am hospice nurse. i have never known it to be anything but pungent, and one of the nicest things i have ever learned from a loving aide was the value of 'covering up that smell', so it does no...

or="yellowgreen"]:heartbeat

6 years as a hospice nurse, and i recently had a new situation tha36-5t i was not sure how to handle symptom control. this patient was actively dying, peaceful,unresponsive,pain-free,afebrile...yet, so tachypneic! his respiratory rate, though non-la...

[c o lor=darkorange] for acne, try megadosing flaxseed oil capsules, (sam's club). this also works for constipation. another constipation remedy, when all else fails, is 'vaseline cookies'...you roll little balls of vaseline (marble size) in sugar...

i am thinking the tachypnea was compensatory, and without it ,there would be no drive, and using roxanol to that point for that finish would take a heck of alot of roxanol to shut off the autopilot i do believe he was comfortable, and never doubted t...

i do think this was kussmaul's respirations. the roxanol and ativan made no difference. thank you.

thank you for putting the words to 'why hospice' so well! families always ask 'how can you do this', and the best answer i have found is simply-IT IS A PRIVILEGE. the demands of the job are certainly less than the rewards of being there for the famil...

:redpinkhe:redpinkh hey, don't be too upset.get this: i called the cops myself,on my own husband,also a nurse, who came home 'early' one night (our anniversary!)... i heard the 'break in'...and...the chaos began.the police came in full force,mainly b...

i truly believe in the natural process and know 95% time it can be peaceful and comfortable with all that is available-i.e.hospice. i look at the "end", as the "beginning"-and an exciting journey, that i hope i am ready to take,whenever. i can see wh...

in hospice it is not unusual to have patients 'see' and talk with people- unseen by the caregivers. i have noticed that it is often been a 'mother'--as in one OLD lady who was calling out for her mother several nights in a row, when, on her last nit...

just had such a case! we had him on morphine subcutaneous, but his pain was intractable. in retrospect i feel he would have obtained more relief with a dilaudid drip. there are always those few pts.who's pain is worsenend by morphine, and they are ...

i like haldol, sublingual, and have been very impressed with it, as well as addition of levsin, sometimes (hycosamine). i have also heard that those wrist bands work well in other hospices, but have yet to try. they are under 10$ in most drug stores....

hello there all you seasoned nurses who travel - i have a couple general ???? as we face a soon emptying nest we are dreaming of travel nurse jobs. his experience is critical care-i.e er and icu. mine is er and hospice-hospice being my strong prefere...

you must be very flexible,and skilled. i hope that will ward off my alzheimers by learning some new tricks. what was your favorite area?

[color=mediumturquoise]:chair: you sound like you have an interest,or desire to do hospice, and thats how it all starts out. just go with your gut feeling. thats the great thing about nursing-too many avenues to go do, so follow your heart and do t...

thank you so much for your response and the links. i will be sure and share this with all my special hospice cohorts-and anyone else who ask, 'how do you do this'? oncalllorraine

:balloons: i truly respect and am changed by each patients death. i feel that its like having one foot in the natural world and the other foot in the supernatural. my faith has grown imensely in hospice and there has been many a 'holy' moment ('hosp...

yes, i am only 51 yrs old, and just changed work avenues from 25 yrs.in the er to being a hospice nurse, full time,on call--and loving the change! this is a definite change of pace-hard to slow down at first. wish i had done this sooner-rewarding w...