Registered Nurse-Hospice Field

Position Summary :

Provide professional skilled nursing services to Hospice patients / families in the home or appropriate settings in accordance with standard of professional hospice nursing practice as well as agency policies, procedures, and standards.

When appropriate admits patients into the program.

Essential Functions :

Collaborates with other members of the Hospice Interdisciplinary Team, client,

family, attending physician, other nurses, medical director, social worker, volunteer, and clergy in

designing the plan of care for the patient and family through regularly scheduled team meetings and

through intermittent contacts as indicated.

Key Measures of Success :

1) Complete documentation in a timely and quality manner.

2) Meet or exceed productivity standards at an average of 5 visits a day.

3) Display strong interpersonal and team oriented skills with all stakeholders : patient / families,

colleagues, managers and physicians (empathetic, compassionate, patient, good communicator,

etc).

4) Ability to assess environment and provide services at an appropriate knowledge and emotional

level for each patient / family.

5) Professionally and personally accountable for all aspects of position (timeliness, documentation,

case management, clinical and interpersonal skills, etc).

Other Duties :

1. Systematically collects data that are comprehensive, accurate, continuous, and current.

2. Uses assessment data to determine nursing diagnosis.

3. Demonstrates knowledge of current pain and symptom control interventions and applies this

knowledge to care appropriately.

4. Reflects sensitivity to special needs of clients from diverse cultures as these needs apply to dying,

quality of life, and ethical dilemmas.

5. Provides nursing care to patients through regularly scheduled visits and on-call visits as assigned.

6. Understands, facilitates, and documents the elements and processes of ethical decision making for

clients and families.

7. Continuously updates and adjusts care via documented nursing actions which are consistent with

recognizing nursing theories and establishes knowledge.

8. Supervises Home Health Aide in carrying out the established plan of care and evaluates the

effectiveness of the services.

9. Teaches and counsels family members, as well as patient, regarding nursing care and emotional

needs.

10. Participates in Volunteer Training and support groups, Bereavement Support Group, and other

community programs as assigned.

11. Participates, as appropriate, in the Agency’s educational activities, including new employee

orientation and professional student clinical training and Agency staff education programs.

12. Interprets Hospice and VNA services and programs to individuals / families and personnel of other agencies.

Knowledge and Experience :

1. Current, valid license from Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a Registered Nurse.

2. One year’s experience in provision of relevant direct patient care.

3. Possession of automobile, valid driver’s license, and auto insurance.

4. Availability and ability to be on-call on a regular rotating basis.

Education :

Graduate of an NLN-approved and state accredited program for nursing.