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What makes a Hospice Nurse? The essence of nursing is caring and this is especially true of hospice nurses. A nurse in a facility is present to help patients and their families in a time of sickness, where as, hospice nurses are present to help patients and families steer the end-of-life travel. Hospice Nurses deal with terminally ill patients and not all patients are at the end of life. One of the largest parts of being a Hospice Nurse involves helping patients, and their families, feel more comfortable about death and providing them with the emotional support they need. Many Hospice Nurses use patient center care which is providing care that is respectful and responsive to the individual patient’s preferences, needs, and values, and ensuring that patient values and wishes guide all care decisions.

Hospice nurses provide care at a time when patients have stopped life-prolonging medical treatments and have begun pain management and other comfort measures for the remainder of their life. It a special type of person with the right personality and temperament who can adjust to the powerful emotions that come with grief and loss. Being a Hospice Nurse is an important job that has a meaningful impact on individuals. A person who is a Hospice Nurse is one because of a calling. A calling like a Nun or priest have a calling to follow God and teach his word. The calling for a Hospice Nurse is almost the same expect it is a calling to be present with others a they prepare the transition to the next phase of life/death. Hospice Nurses are advocates for patients and families in their time of emotional distress dealing with the end of life of the patient.

As a culture, we often avoid thinking about or even talking about death. The philosophy of a Hospice Nurse is different and it is because the patients end-of-life journey is close at hand, because a patient is usually put on hospice care because of a six months prognosis conferred by a doctor. A Hospice Nurse assist the patient and family with preparing for the end-of-life travel. Hospice Nurses are often called angels by their patients and the patients families because of the comfort and ease they provided to patients in their final stages of life. Angels because of the comfort they also provide for the patient’s families and friends through the patient’s final stages of life.

Hospice Nurse are not only dealing with the emotional aspects of end-of-life, but are also providing nursing care. Their job includes monitoring vital signs, management of medications, especially pain medications, along with taking care of the needs of the patient. Taking care of the needs of the patient sometimes includes taking care of the emotional needs of the patient and the patient’s families and friends. This includes many different tasks, and these tasks are not just nine to five. Hospice nurses work through the night and on weekends and holidays. Therefore, it takes a special individual with a certain calling to help these patients and their families and friends through this stressful and emotional travel called end-of-life.