Hospice in LTC: Philosophy of Care

Course overview

Hospice services for residents of long-term care provide needed support to residents near end of life. However, the hospice benefit is complicated to deliver in long-term care settings. This course covers the history of hospice, the hospice philosophy and model of care, and the differences between hospice and palliative care. How the hospice and long-term care models work together to support an individualized plan of care will be explored. This includes how hospice in long-term care aims to meet the physical, spiritual, psychosocial, and emotional needs of residents and families. This course also presents information on the dying process, grief, and bereavement. Appropriate hospice referrals will be considered. The goal of this course is to provide nurses in post-acute care with knowledge of how hospice complements long-term care. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are an LPN/LVN taking this course, it is important to remember that assessment is beyond the scope of an LPN/LVN license, although data collection is allowed. In this course, the use of any form of the term assess also refers to the collection of data.