nurses

• Provide respite care for family members who need a break.
• Order appropriate medical supplies needed by the patient.
• Perform patient assessments.
• Create a plan of care for all caregivers to follow.
• Provide sensitive care and emotional support.
• Provide crisis care that alleviates symptoms to result in comfort maintenance.
• Act as mediator between the family and patient, and the rest of the hospice care team.
• Arrange spiritual support services from chaplains, ministers and priests.
• Prescribe medications or treatments, and supervise or manage medical care — in the case of nurse practitioners.
• Be an advocate for patients.

The role of a hospice nurse is also a multivariat one. Having such a robust skill set, nurses can apply their knowledge and talents across a host of varying care specialities within a hospice organization.

Admission nurses are some of the first members of a hospice organization with whom patients come into contact. In this position, admission nurses guide patients and families through the hospice assessment and admissions processes and play a pivotal role in the educational process for patients, families, and caregivers alike.When terminally-ill individuals are considering hospice care, an admissions nurse will work closely with that patient’s physician to understand the patient’s needs and determine whether or not that patient is eligible for hospice care.If that patient is eligible to receive hospice care, the admissions nurse provides compassionate education concerning the holistic hospice care philosophy, as well as the nature of the care they can expect to receive in regard to their specific terminal illness.Admissions nurses also work closely with the patient’s care team in formulating a care plan for the patient. With the admission nurse being one of the first medical professionals from that hospice organization that has met with that patient, their insight is invaluable.Following a patient’s admission, admissions nurses may also play a role in the order of any specialty care equipment that a patient might require as well as all pain relief and other symptom-controlling medications.

The role of a case manager is one of the most direct, hands-on nursing roles in a hospice organization.Hospice case managers oversee the direction and coordination of a patient’s care — and the care provided for their caregivers and family — throughout their time in hospice.Working closely with the rest of the hospice care team, case managers decide how care resources are allocated and formulate the plan of care for each patient.They also determine what level and what types of counseling, education, and care the patient’s family caregiver and family members will need before, during, and after the patient’s death.

Visit nurses supplement the care provided by a patient’s hospice case manager.In part, their work consists of following up on routine care duties that are laid out in the patient plan of care, such as providing periodic wound care, administering medications, and ensuring proper documentation of all provided care.