Transitioning RN to BSN students from acute care to hospice care nursing.

ABSTRACT

Today, most medical professionals focus on a cure. However, hospice care provides a quality of life for those persons nearing the end of life or persons experiencing a life-limiting illness. The distressing reality is that most nurses are not taught the full scope of end of life care (EOL) in schools of nursing. Because of this educational deficit, a variance in care is created that may adversely affect the dying patient and family's wishes. In our RN to BSN program, we established a partnership with a national hospice organization to provide (1) leadership in end-of-life course development, (2) lecturers experienced in hospice and palliative care, (3) field placement for students with hospice nurses, and (4) nursing scholarships to complete the bachelor's degree. The end result of this partnership is to educate registered nurses about hospice and palliative care, as well as to increase the nursing workforce in this area.