Hospice Nurse

Schedule:

• After your orientation period - your typical schedule will be Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM, but based on patient needs and emergencies, flexibility may be required to ensure quality care and comfort

• While there is a dedicated on-call team, you will rotate being backup on-call with your team.

Caseloads and Visits:

• Our goal is to have an average caseload of 13-15 patients. Depending on referral patterns, this can be higher or lower. We can see fluctuations of up to 16-18 patients at times. Leadership has bi-weekly staffing meetings to assess hiring needs to help us respond to an increased census as quickly as possible.

• Our goal is to have a minimum of 20 visits per week. This averages out to 4-5 visits a day, but this is also dependent upon patient needs, their location, and several other factors. Because of the nature of end-of-life care, a patient’s needs can change rapidly. You will have the flexibility to move visits from one day to another to best suit your patients within regulatory guidelines.

• Visits typically take 45 minutes to 1 hour, but if there is active symptom management, visits may take longer to ensure comfort.

What you’ll be doing:

• You’ll see your patients wherever they consider home (personal residence, assisted living facilities, skilled nursing facilities). We provide quality care regardless of circumstance to a variety of different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.

• You’ll need to be comfortable training the caregivers to care for their loved one. This might include things like demonstrating wound care, how to administer medications, how to provide personal care, and what to expect at end-of-life.

• Expect to spend extended time periods in your car, driving between patients, documenting, and coordinating care. You’ll use your own personal vehicle, and mileage driven between patient visits is reimbursable.

• Coordination of care between your patient’s community medical provider, hospice provider, and other disciplines to provide updates, obtain new orders, takes place in between visits.

• Patients are assigned by your director based on your team’s needs – determined by acuity, geography, and many other factors.

• Real-time documentation in patient’s home; medications and supplies are ordered online.

• Self-scheduling based on patient’s needs and acuity, but you’ll also need flexibility to assist your team making visits as needed to provide excellent patient care.

• You will be part of an Interdisciplinary Team (IDT) consisting of a physician, nurse practitioner, registered nurse, medical social worker, chaplain, and a CNA. Volunteers are also available to assist in patient’s needs. The team meets every two weeks to discuss patient eligibility.

JOB SPECIFICATIONS 

  1. Education:  Graduate of an approved school of nursing, either through an AD, Diploma or BSN program. 

  2. Licensure / Certifications:  Current license to practice professional nursing in the State of North Carolina / South Carolina. 

  3. Experience:  Two years experience.  Prefer Home Care or Hospice or related oncology experience. 

  4. Essential Technical / Motor Skills:  Hand/eye coordination to give injections, use computer, etc.  Ability to speak clearly to communicate with patients, families, physicians and staff regarding patient’s condition and care.  Must be able to communicate and be literate in the English language. 

  5. Interpersonal Skills:  Ability to develop positive interaction with patients, families, physicians, and staff to effectively care for the patients. 

  6. Essential Physical Requirements:   Ability to lift and/or maneuver objects weighing at least 45 pounds or less in the assessment and implementation of patient care.  Requires pushing, moving, lifting of patients.    

  7. Essential Mental Abilities:  Must be able to assess a patient’s condition, formulate a Plan of Care, implement appropriate interventions to meet patient/family outcomes.  Requires higher level of mental faculties accompanied by short and long-term memory. 

  8. Essential Sensory Requirements:  Must be able to assess patients and to utilize sight to implement and evaluate Plan of Care.  Utilize hearing to auscultate lung sounds, bowel sounds and effectively communicate with patients, families, physicians, and staff. 

  9. Exposure to Hazards:  Frequent exposure to blood and body fluids, infectious diseases, needle puncture wounds.  May be exposed to dangerous animals and traffic hazards while home visiting.  May encounter patients and other situations that present a potential threat to personal safety.  May encounter temperature changes and weather extremes. 

10. Other - Hours of Work:  Flexible schedule to accommodate staffing needs, which may include weekends/holidays, rotating shifts, and on-call. 

11. Population Served:  All patient populations from infants through geriatric with life limiting illness.  

12. Driving: Will be required to drive. Must have reliable transportation. Will be subject to the Safe Driver Policy.