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Compassion for patients who are terminally ill may lead you to explore nursing jobs in hospice care. If you are already a nurse or considering the possibility of becoming a nurse, the idea of working with patients in hospice care may feel both challenging and rewarding. Using your nursing skills to help patients in hospice can provide nurturing care at a crucial time for patients and also for their families. Pain management and emotional care are both important parts of hospice nursing, which can take place in a variety of settings.
Places You Might Work as a Hospice Nurse
Hospice care provides patients near the end of their lives with the opportunity to be cared for in their home environment instead of in a hospital. Being in the home environment allows patients more comfort and familiarity as well as the opportunity for their family members to stay closer. As a hospice nurse, you will most likely work with patients in houses, apartments, nursing homes, or assisted living care facilities. Depending on the kind of illness a patient has, they made need around the clock hospice care or part-time care. Part of a nurse’s job can be to help coordinate and plan the kind of care a patient needs. A nurse may do that planning in conjunction with the patient, with the patient’s family members, the staff of a nursing home or assisted living facility, the patient’s doctors, and even sometimes with religious professionals and social workers.
Various Types of Hospice Nurse Jobs
There are several types of jobs you might pursue as hospice RN. You might be involved in direct care for a patient, in an on-call role, or as a case manager helping to coordinate care plans. Since hospice care involves so many things to carefully consider, including patient finances, legal issues, and various pain management issues, there are other important roles that hospice nurses may take on too. These include roles such as advocating for patient rights when public policies are considered, or as researchers and grant-writers who can help to advance hospice care within communities.
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Because patients suffering from all different sorts of illnesses may need palliative or hospice care, many hospice RNs work with a variety of kinds of patients. However, if you have an interest in working with patients who suffer from a very specific type of illness, or with patients of a certain age, you might become an RN who specializes in certain diseases or in the areas of geriatrics or pediatrics. Regardless of what kind of role or specialty you take on, you might want to look into certification as a hospice nurse. There are several different kinds of certification offered, depending on the type of role or specialty you pursue, according to the Hospice & Palliative Nurse Association.