Some insight?

I was wondering if you hospice nurses could let me in on what you do on a "typical" home visit? How about a visit to a nursing home patient?

Thanks!

My typical visit begins with a short check-in with the charge nurse to find out if there have been any new issues or problems since my last visit. I then generally visit the patient. Once per week, I do a head to toe assessment. Depending on the patient and their situation, I spend some time just talking with them and trying to find out how things are going from the patients perspective. I them complete my note, check with the nurse to see if any hospice covered meds need to be reordered. I often check with some of the CNA's to get their perspective as they often spend more time with the patient than anyone. They can offer alot of good information and suggestion!

I also review nurses notes, MD orders, CNA flowsheets, labs, etc... since my last visit. I stay in contact with the pts. families if they are involved to keep them posted and to get their perspective.

I also check in perodically witht the MDS Coordinator to make sure that I don't miss a Care Plan Meeting.

Any other visits needed that week are usually task oriented and the visits are generally more brief. This would be for a dressing change or pain follow-up etc.. Hope this helps.

Yes, that was helpful. I was just interested in knowing exactly what you do. We have a Hospice nurse that comes to our facility, but I am usually too busy at that time to really talk to her about anything.