Sent from heaven: Families turn to hospice nurses to help ease final goodbye
Jimmy Carter’s recent statement that he would be entering hospice has once again focused attention on hospice nurses. The former president, 98, released the following statement: “After a series of short hospital stays, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention. He has the full support of his family and his medical team. The Carter family asks for privacy during this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers.”
For many families, hospice caregivers help patients who are no longer receiving medical attention focused on recovery. Instead, the focus is on making a person as comfortable as possible before they die. They also provide support to the families of the patients during a very difficult time.
Jean Franco says she was 16 when her grandmother died, which she describes as “calm, peaceful and quiet — there was this quiet energy in the room when she passed.”
Franco says she spent 21 years as a registered nurse in hospitals in Chicago, Dayton, Ohio, and Miami. “I moved a lot because of my husband’s job and nursing jobs were always easy to find,” she says. “But after the move to Florida, I started to think of my career as something less movable. I wanted to find a direction and stick to it.”
Remembering the nurse who was present for her grandmother’s death — Franco says she isn’t sure if she was a hospice nurse or not — she decided to get involved in hospice care. “It’s really the final piece of the puzzle,” she says. “Families count on you to give their loved ones a dignified, calm passage.”
Hospice nurses, who are sometimes referred to as palliative care nurses, are registered nurses who care for patients who are no longer responding to medical care. “On its surface, it sounds morbid but it’s really a peaceful process,” says Barbara Metzger, a retired hospice nurse now living in Orlando, Florida. “You’re working with the patient to make sure he or she is comfortable and safe, and you’re preparing the family for the inevitable.”
A solemn process
Franco works through two different hospice agencies and receives assignments to care for patients in their own homes. “There’s a comfort level to someone’s room, their family photos, their pet,” Franco says. “Even when patients aren’t fully aware of their surroundings, you still see signs of recognition, not signs of fear, which is what I used to see when patients were in unfamiliar hospital beds in the final stages of their lives.”
According to Franco, despite the emotional weight of her job, her routine is fairly standard. “We monitor the patient’s vital signs, make sure that he or she isn’t in any pain and do our best to prepare the loved ones for their final moments,” she says. “The process is simple by design. We’re not there to complicate matters with a bunch of machines and doctors and options. We only have one intention — to provide a safe, comfortable conclusion to that person’s life.”
On the job
Description: Hospice nurses perform most normal nursing duties, including monitoring and recording vital signs, evaluating diagnostic tests and keeping accurate medical records. Hospice nurses work most often with patients experiencing terminal illnesses. Hospice nurses often provide informal counseling and emotional support for their patients’ families.
Salary: The median salary for a hospice nurse was $77,600 in May 2021. In most cases, the income range for hospice nurses closely resembles the salaries of registered nurses.
Job growth: Given the aging U.S. population and its need for eventual hospice care, the Department of Labor predicts that the demand for hospice nurses will grow 6 percent by 2031. Hospice patients will be most in demand in long-term facilities that treat patients who have suffered strokes, head injuries and long-term diseases.