Young Hospice Nurses

sconnieRN · Jan 26, 2009

Wow! what a great post, being a young hospice nurse does seem to be a rarity and I'm glad to see I'm not the only one out there! I'm 25, graduated in 2006 and just got into hospice this past year. My first year and a half out of school I worked in a hospital on a neuro floor and tried neuro ICU for a few months and decided that wasn't for me. I'd say my acute care experience was just "OK". I learned a lot and certainly don't regret it. However, to my surprise, the job seemed to quickly become just that - a job, the passion just wasn't there. Since I've been in hospice, I've realized how much more enjoyable and rewarding this type of nursing is for me...I definitely feel the passion again. I agree with most of the replies, that age really isn't relative, rather a degree of maturity and compassion is what matters more. The "life experience" valuable to a hospice nurse can come at any age. At 25, I've experienced quite a bit- the loss of 4 grandparents, an uncle, and most importantly, my father who was in and out of hospice several times from the age of 44 until he eventually passed away at 55. The life lessons learned through the years caring for my father are more than some may gain in a lifetime. I don't think experiencing loss is necessarily a requirement for becoming a good hospice nurse at a young age, but for me, it certainly has been most influential and has provided me great inspiration to do this type of work.

siouxsieyq, BSN, LPN, RN · Feb 19, 2009

I'd say I'm fairly young (28) and have been working as an LVN for the local non profit hospice for 8 months now. I absolutely love what I do. I am one of the, if not the youngest licensed nurses working for the outpatient team. Yes, many of the nurses I work with are of a higher age demographic, but what I have found is that they are eager to work with young nurses, who are still fresh out of school, up to date on new medications and treatments, and tech savy, what with the computer charting that was initiated by the company I work for just last year. I agree with other posters that it is the individual nurses maturity that can detirmine if they are on "the hospice page" or not. I still find myself in a "saving" mode from time to time (i guess that comes from my part time job on the sub acute unit) but realy do embace the hospice mission of a good, comfortable and peaceful death. Oh, and we have several male nurses and CHHA's

DarkHairedStudentCCC · Mar 5, 2009

I thank you all for the positive replies this thread has received so far. Your words of encouragement will help sustain me as I make my way into hospice nursing.

jaf0066 · Mar 7, 2009

I have found the first month of my career as an hospice RN to be rife with conflict between the reality of nursing and what is taught about nursing. Probably the most glaring conflict is the reality of working as a team member. I mean how does one actually fit and how does one begin to synergize with the team members? Between trying to understand when and how to contact MDs and NPs and how to relate to other nurses of different education backgrounds without stepping on toes or offending people, I am feeling very discouraged. I know I am in the right place because intellectually I know I am capable of the task and feel at home caring for pt and family as they wish. I guess for team member, I feel awfully alone.