Subacute medicine / palliative unit

firstinfamily, RN · Sep 28, 2014

It sounds like this is a combination unit. Palliative care is usually patients who may have a chronic illness that need some additional nursing support, usually this type of patient ends up going Hospice. Sub-acute is usually patients who have just had an acute hospitalization and are recovering with PT services before they go home, to an ALF or a LTC facility. Both can be challenging in a variety of ways.

Newnurs01 · Sep 29, 2014

thank you for your response.

loveoutloud · Oct 1, 2014

In my area, palliative is the same as hospice. Patients in this area will not be receiving treatment for their medical condition, but rather their care is focused on providing comfort and psychosocial support to them and their family. You may be giving a lot of pain meds, anti-emetics, etc. You will get a lot of wound care experience in palliative as well, many get pressure ulcers even with frequent repositioning. As the previous poster said, sub-acute patients are past the "acute" phase of their illness. In the instance if a stroke, they may require further rehab and work with ADL's. Other times, they are not "sick" enough to require acute care but still require monitoring or maybe IV antibiotics. I work in acute care and we send our stable walking and talking patients there.

Newnurs01 · Oct 1, 2014

Thanks everyone. I just have few more questions.. is it a good area for a Newgrad to start your from ? I mean in terms of experience and skills and also I wanted to actually work in a medsurg unit later. So howhard would be the transition ( moving from subacute palliative floor to medsurge). Is it hard to get hired in an acute floor after having worked in a floor like this. i actually got a job offer to work in subacute palliative unit.. I am considering the offer but I am a bit confused. Your help will be appreciated:)