“The people who work here are a different caliber of nursing.”

I’ve worked at different hospitals in several surrounding states. Out of 30 years of nursing, this is the best job I’ve ever had.

We have a lot of autonomy in team leading and being in charge of our caseloads. We make the schedules according to the patients’ needs. We get to spend more time with them. We take care of the needs of the patients and the families as well.

The people who work here are a different caliber of nursing. In hospital nursing, you generally have a specialty, and you work one specific area, whether it’s ICU, Step Down, Med Surg, Pulmonary, Neuro . . . but in Hospice, you don’t know what you’re going to be getting each time you have a new patient. We deal with lots of cancer patients, those with significant heart disease, heart failure, we’ve had heart transplant patients, lots of COPD patients, neurological disorders and autoimmune disorders. You learn about medical areas you might not know.

This is not the highest paid nursing job out there, but the pay is decent. And the flexibility and autonomy that you get is so much better. You get to know your patients and you have a consistency of care, whether it’s a few days, a few weeks, several months, or even a few years.

We’re there to interject and to help them, and keep them from running back and forth to the hospital like they were doing previously. It takes its toll on the patient. Most of the patients are much happier and do better when we care for them in their own homes.