Hospice CNA Job Description

A hospice is a hospital where terminally ill or dying patients are cared for. The place of treatment and care could also be the patient's home since most people prefer to spend their last days with their family. In both the places, the nursing services is provided by certified nurse assistants who are called hospice CNA. These nurses offer palliative care services, and try to make the remaining few days comfortable for the patients. Caring for dying people is a totally different experience where the nurses have to provide maximum possible comfort and relaxation to the patients.

Hospice nurses offer varieties of services to terminally ill patients. They have to offer medical and emotional care to both patients and their families.

Hospice CNA Job Description

Personal Care

A hospice CNA, whether in a hospital or at patient's home will offer all sorts of personal care ranging from changing bed linens and clothing, brushing teeth, dressing wounds, controlling infection, and bathing. The list to do things will go extending when she is taking care of the patient undergoing a chemotherapy. She will also help the family by instructing them how to care for the patient in her absence.

Medical Care

Taking vital signs, reading the pulse rate and heart beats are important medical care the nurse has to perform. She will also help registered nursed in need of administering IV and other medicines given through an insertion into the vein. She will also administer medications as prescribed by the physicians. If the patient is in need of physiotherapy, she will do it herself by giving a massage.

Nutrition

She will monitor the nutritional needs to ensure the patient gets appropriate liquid and solid foods. Since terminally ill patients have a limited appetite, eating food becomes difficult for them. However, she has to take care that the patient is eating at least some meal to complement with the medications. She has to mince the food and feed the patient in small offering. She will also offer meals in frequent intervals to compensate for the required nutrition.

Other Care

When caring the patient at homes, she will also help the family in care-giving needs. She will offer emotional and physical support to the family by helping in meal preparation, cleaning and sterilizing the patient's room. She will also help in shifting the patient from one place to another.

These hospice CNA job description is best handled if you want to help dying patients in embracing the inevitable truth with dignity and comfort. Your job will be to lessen the pain as much as possible by offering nursing care of the highest quality.