Hospice Registered Nurse

Heartland Hospice•Fairfax, VA

6d•$87,355 - $109,195

About The Position

Heartland Hospice is seeking a Registered Nurse to provide compassionate, personalized hospice and palliative care to patients with life-limiting illnesses and support their families. The RN serves as a primary point of contact, delivering skilled nursing care in patients’ homes, assisted living settings, or other places they call home. The role includes assessing patients, managing symptoms, developing and updating individualized plans of care, and coordinating services with an interdisciplinary team. The RN educates patients, caregivers, and families about the disease process, medications, symptom and pain management, hospice services, nutrition, and end-of-life care. The position also provides emotional, physical, and spiritual support, documents care and assessment findings, communicates changes in condition, and helps ensure continuity of care and compliance with clinical and regulatory standards. On-call and patient-support activities may be required as applicable. The work takes place in patient homes, institutional settings, and an automobile. The position is safety-sensitive and may involve exposure to infections, communicable diseases, odors, blood, excreta, and hazardous materials. The posted salary range is $87,355 to $109,195.

Requirements

Registered Nurse education or qualification.
At least one year of RN experience in acute care hospital, oncology, long-term care, hospice, or home health; school internships and clinical hours may be considered in individual cases.
Current license to practice nursing in the state of employment.
CPR certification.
Current automobile insurance and a valid driver’s license.
Ability to maintain transportation for work.
Knowledge of terminally ill patients and their families, hospice, hospice disciplines, community resources, general nursing practice, and managed-care principles and regulatory guidelines.
Strong patient-assessment skills and oral and written communication skills.
Ability to document and support program management.
Ability to communicate effectively with people from all socioeconomic backgrounds and to support patients and families during crises.
Flexibility, maturity, cooperation, tact, and the ability to change tasks while maintaining efficiency and composure.
Ability to effectively operate nursing assessment tools, computers, facsimile equipment, copier, and cell phone or beeper.

Nice To Haves

Hospice or palliative care experience.

Responsibilities

Serve as a primary point of contact for hospice patients and their families, guiding them through the hospice journey.
Provide and document skilled nursing care in accordance with each patient’s individualized plan of care.
Perform comprehensive initial and ongoing assessments and reassessments, including in-person and telephonic RN assessments or screenings.
Deliver skilled nursing interventions and symptom management aligned with patients’ goals of care.
Develop and update individualized plans of care, including visit frequency and identification of patient risks.
Coordinate care with interdisciplinary team members, including physicians and nurse practitioners.
Educate patients, families, and caregivers about disease processes, self-care, end-of-life care, medications, nutrition, and dietary needs.
Provide emotional, physical, and spiritual support to patients and loved ones, including bereavement guidance.
Communicate changes in condition and signs or symptoms of decline to the appropriate provider.
Support continuity of care, appropriate referrals, and transitions between levels of care.
Maintain timely and accurate clinical records, including assessments, physician orders, progress notes, and care plans.
Maintain effective working relationships with the interdisciplinary group and involve team members when the care plan warrants their participation.
Participate in on-call and patient-support activities as applicable, providing clinically competent and responsive service.
Follow infection-control, regulatory, and organizational compliance standards.
Support quality-improvement and scheduling initiatives.