The hospice nurse is a medical professional that has many duties that are assigned to her and one of the main responsibilities of the patient is that she needs to take care of the patient and foster a long lasting and trusting relationship with the patient. This nurse is one that is a registered nurse and needs to work independently. The nurse is a direct connection between the nurse and the doctor. The main responsibility of the hospice nurse is that he/she needs to be aware and keep track of all the details of the patient. It is the primary duty of the patient to assess the condition of the patient and ensure that the treatment is conducted in a compassionate and humane manner. They are the medical professionals who tend to spend the last minutes with the patient. This nurse is the first one who looks after the patient in his/her last stages.
There is another responsibility of this nurse and that is he/she takes the patient and explains the essence of hospice to the caregivers who also look after the patient. This nurse also chalks out the treatment plan and ensures that all the caregivers abide by the treatment plan that has been devised for the patient.
Certification is granted by The National Board for Certification of Hospice and Palliative Nurses and the hospice nurse earns about $25.51 to $33.19 per hour approximately. Hospice nurse also supervises and monitors the patient along with the caregivers that are taking care of him/her. This nurse is one that is a specialist in the field of hospice and they are greatly banked upon in the medical and the health care profession.