PomMom65

The Hospice I work for also has dedicated admission nurses.

I have also seen situations in LTC where they are just not comfortable giving the medications and dosages that we give. I think it is a lack of understanding the hospice philosophy as well.

I went straight into Hospice nursing from school. I had a greater learning curve than most. I work with wonderful nurses that have taught me a lot. I work on an inpatient unit so I am not out there alone. I am also 50 years old and have life experience dealing with all types of people. I cannot tell you if it is easier because I have nothing to base that from. However, I will say that if you choose home hospice you will be out there by yourself, you have a lot of autonomy and you never know what you are walking into. You will encounter situations where family members are not on the same page with regard to the patient. You will have family members that are not realistic about the patient's prognosis. You will hear "If they would just eat and get stronger"..... You will find that your professional judgement is that the patient should be medicated for pain but the family wants them lucid so they refuse meds. We admitted a man last night and his son, who is a physician, asked me how we were going to "off his father". With that said, you will have people that are grateful for the care you provide to them and their families. You will have the honor of being with someone as they take their last breath. I find it more rewarding than stressful. I love my job and I feel blessed to have it. Please remember that not all hospice patients are elderly. I have taken care of a 14 year old, a 19 year old, women my own age, men and women with little kids. Sometimes you get close to these people and then see them come back onto the unit and pass away. You grieve. You laugh. You cry.

I'm very sorry that this happened to your dad and I am sorry that your family is going through this. My dad is also ill and I live far away. It is really tough. I hope that you all can have a good Thanksgiving dinner together.

I was a Park Ranger then Park Manager. I moved across country to a snowy area and realized jobs like I had just were not available. Then I realized that I needed to do something different. I always wanted to be a nurse and my situation allowed for me to go to school so here I am. I love nursing.

I work inpatient hospice and our patients come in because of a crisis (pain, agitation etc..) When we get the symptoms managed, they go home. Many of our patients and families just want to stay with us. I think a lot of it is fear of another crisis at home or fear that their caregivers cannot provide the care. Social work is very involved in all of our discharges.

Hospice. As an LPN you can get a hospice certification.

I use them every day for Morphine and Dilaudid carpujects.

My supplies consist of things that I have brought home in error from work in my pockets. I have a few 10mL saline flushes, quite a few alcohol wipes, tape, 4x4s, barrier cream, gloves (tons of gloves). If I cut myself now I would have to use that 4x4 and tape to bandage it. I don't even have a box of band aids.

Agitation is a tough one for families. When Haldol or Ativan will not work we go to Thorazine or Phenobarbital.

I work on a 12 bed Hospice inpatient unit. It was my first job out of nursing school and I love it. When we have a full house I have 4 patients. We get just as many full admission (not on Hospice services) as we get level of care changes. MissyWrite gave a great description. We treat symptoms that cannot be managed in the home: dyspnea, pain, N//V, agitation, constipation. We do offer one bed as a respite when caregivers need a break. On my typical overnight shift there are 3 nurses and one CNA, we work as a team and everyone helps everyone else. I am proud to work with the folks I work with and proud to be part of this amazing team. I hope you love it. Please keep us posted.

We did not and at the time it seems so very important to me. At my job we start them all the time so I learned quick.

HPNA.org has a lot of good information.

It gets better!

Thanks Rose Queen; Most of the studies that I read state that there is not any "better outcome" for mom by termination unless the cancer is late stage and requires immediate aggressive treatment; however, a lot of breast cancer diagnosis in pregnancy are delayed due to the normal physiological changes in the breast They also stated that mastectomy is the "surgery of choice" because of the inability to do radiotherapy. If Mom chooses breast conserving surgery radiation is delayed. I was really shocked to find out that you can do chemo in 2nd and 3rd trimester. Thanks so much for answering. Have a wonderful weekend.