There is a different focus for the client with hospice nursing care. T

There is a different focus for the client with hospice nursing care. The nurse is aware that client care provided through a hospice is:

1. Designed to meet the client’s individual wishes, as much as possible
2. Aimed at offering curative treatment plans intended for client recovery
3. Involved in teaching families and/or caregivers to provide postmortem care
4. Offered primarily for hospitalized clients for whom at-home care is not possible

ANSWER

ANS: 1
The nurse’s role in hospice is to meet the primary wishes of the dying client and to be open to individual desires of each client. The nurse supports a client’s choice in maintaining comfort and dignity. Hospice care is for the terminally ill. It is not aimed at offering curative treatment, but rather the emphasis is on palliative care. Hospice care may provide bereavement follow-up for the family after a client’s death, but hospice nurses typically do not teach the family postmortem care. Hospice care is primarily for home care, but a client in a hospice may become hospitalized.