RoseK4020

Absolutely. We have great skilled, compassionate male nurses in our company. If you think you are interested, start conversations with the hospice nurses that visit your facility and read online posts and blogs from hospice nurses. It is an extremely fulfilling career but a very demanding one as well.

Agree with every word. All sad but true. We are losing the heart of what hospice is all about. I want to tell you to hang in there, it's all worth it, but I can't. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Annlewis, I like the team concept your hospice uses. Thanks for your response.

It sounds like you are talking about doing continuous care, a higher level of hospice service for clients with uncontrolled symptoms. Follow your agency guidelines for documentation, and focus on the reason the client is on CC. Anxiety? Document restless activity, movements, number of times out of bed (or trying to) during the night, talking, cognition, fears, etc. Document response to meds given. Be specific, paint the picture. As far as what to do in a client's home, behave as a helpful guest. Bring your own meal and drinks, ask which bathroom to use, etc. Clean up after yourself and your patient, take garbage to the bin, dirty linens to the laundry,etc. Use your free time to learn if you can. Google your clients illness, there are some great websites out there. Check out hospice and nursing blogs for help with non-pharmacological ways to manage symptoms. Ask if your client likes any special kind of music, then find it on your phone and enjoy it with him. I don't know why you would ever want to keep them awake but if he can't sleep despite meds, etc, draw him into conversation, help him reminisce, every patient has a lifetime of stories. Many hospice patients have issues to work through, and sometimes in those conversations at night a client may be at his most vulnerable and open. Listen actively, help him to review and reflect upon his life. You don't have to give advice, just be interested and genuine. Unless your client asks you not to, be sure to pass on what you've learned to the rest of your team, so they can best help him too. Good luck with your new position.

Honestly, people. You can't read with caps? The device I have to document with ONLY uses caps. Give this poor girl a break. I too love my job as an RN Case Manager for the same reasons this writer does. I'very been doing it over 10 years and identify completely with what she is going through. When we were a small company, I had all the support in the world, but as we've grown, documentation has quadrupled and caseloads are higher than we've ever had. Working between 50-60 hours every week, and getting paid for 40 (salaried) is the norm. Orientation is slipshod at best. Sadly, we are hiring new nurses and they burn out so fast, especially if they have a baby or young children at home. IDG meetings are a joke. I used to love them because it was a time to collaborate and I learned so much. Now all of it is about the physician making sure the client is eligible, nothing more. Chaplains and social workers don't even bother to try to contribute anymore. The worst part is, management feigns concern at the staff turnover (which we never used to have) but nothing changes. Any raises are swallowed up by rising cost of our insurance premiums. Chritmas or any kind of bonuses are nonexistant. We get only constant urging to take on more visits , more on call, and more add-ons to our documentation. Why don't I leave? Because if you read the reviews of different hospices from employees, these issues are industry wide. Ideas anyone? I am getting too old for this pace.

Ask to shadow an RN Case Manager. Ask her how many hours she spends documenting at home after she sees her patients. What is her typical caseload?

1 work for a hospice with a census of around 180. All RNs take one weeknight a month as backup to our on call staff. And you can pretty much count on being called in. Rarely require weekend call.