What Is a Hospice Nurse?
Hospice care is defined as health care that is aimed toward pain reduction and betterment of quality of life, rather than treatment in order to cure. Hospice care can be beneficial for patients with incurable, terminal illnesses or patients who no longer wish to receive recovery treatments, such as the elderly.
One of the fundamental ideas behind hospice care is that terminally ill patients have the right to spend the last days of their lives in comfort and in a location of their choosing. A hospice nurse is specially trained to give care to patients requiring or requesting hospice treatments. Much of the treatment they administer has to do with pain reduction and the appeasement physical and mental symptoms.
The role of a hospice nurse is varied and can also often include supportive emotional, spiritual and social therapies and services. Hospice nurses also provide typical nursing care, such as observation of patients, administration of treatments and recording of patient symptoms. Hospice nurses oftentimes work closely with physicians and aide in an overall hospice treatment plan.
How to Become a Hospice Nurse
In order to become a hospice nurse, one must first become a registered nurse. There are many online and traditional universities offering associate and bachelor’s degrees in nursing. Once graduates receive an accredited nursing degree, they will then need to get licensed to practice nursing by passing the National Council Licensure Examination – Registered Nurse (NCLEX-RN). This is a nationally administered exam, and all nursing graduates must pass it in order to become legal registered nurses.
Once an individual is licensed to work as a registered nurse, he or she must have at least two years of full-time experience working as a registered nurse in a hospice setting in order to qualify for certification as a hospice nurse. The National Board for the Certification of Hospice Nurses administers a nationally recognized exam that certifies registered nurses to work as hospice nurses.
The role of a hospice nurse can be extremely emotionally taxing, as all of a hospice nurse’s patients are dying, so students should be aware of this reality.
Hospice Nurse Career Outlook & Salary
The career outlook for registered nurses in the United States will be excellent from 2008 to 2012. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of registered nurses is estimated to increase by 22% in the decade from 2008 to 2012. This is a rate much faster than the average for all occupations.
The Bureau reports that one of the industries employing the largest amounts of registered nurses will be that of home health care services, employing 33% of all registered nurses. This is especially relevant for hospice nurses, as much of their work has the potential to be done increasingly in patients’ homes.
The salaries for hospice nurses will vary according to the industry and geographical location of employment. According to Payscale.com, certified hospice and palliative nurses working in New York made a median annual salary of $98,870, while hospice nurses working in Orlando make an average of $52,903.
