LIfe's Journey Hospice

Over ten years ago, while working in hospice as a nurse, I realized a need for a place where hospice patients could go when their symptoms became unmanageable at home or the caregiver needed a break. Inpatient hospice care offers this in the hospital or long-term care setting, or, in a hospice house if the hospice company itself has one. However, most hospice companies do not have hospice inpatient facilities. Hospitals and long-term care, while excellent in the care they give, are not trained as hospice caregivers or in the hospice philosophy. A gap existed in the options we offer to the dying patient.