Hospice Nurse

Lower Cape Fear LifeCare; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 85,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

Lower Cape Fear LifeCare seeks a skilled Hospice Nurse to provide compassionate end-of-life care in patients' homes and facilities across diverse communities. You will train family caregivers, manage medications, and coordinate with a multidisciplinary team to ensure comfort and dignity for patients.

Expect a flexible schedule, extensive driving between visits, and real-time documentation with mileage reimbursement.

Qualifications

• Graduate of an approved nursing program (AD/Diploma/BSN).
• Current RN license in NC/SC.
• At least 2 years of experience; home care or hospice preferred.
• Ability to lift up to 45 pounds and drive to patient homes.

Responsibilities

• Provide care at patients' homes or facilities for diverse backgrounds.
• Train caregivers in wound care, medications, and personal care.
• Spend significant time driving and documenting; mileage reimbursed.
• Coordinate with medical providers to update orders between visits.
• Assign patients by director; work with IDT team meeting biweekly.
• Real-time documentation and online ordering of medications/supplies.
• Self-scheduling with flexibility to support patient needs.
• Be part of Interdisciplinary Team meetings every two weeks.

Skills

Nursing

Communication

English proficiency

Patient education

Driving

Time management

Education

RN license

AD/Diploma/BSN

Tools

Computer literacy

Job description

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.

Visits

• 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.