Approved for 6 clock hours by Commission on Case Manager Certification from 1/1/07 to 12/31/08.

This course describes the history of hospice as a social construct in the world at large and as a discreet discipline within medical practice in the United States . Participants will learn how case management applies to hospice practice, other disciplines with which the hospice nurse collaborates, and the expectations agency administrators and state and federal regulators have for the hospice nurse and other clinicians.

Key concepts in this course include the role of the nurse in hospice practice, the function of the interdisciplinary hospice team, use and access of clinical consultants on behalf of the hospice patient, the structure of the Medicare hospice benefit, hospice eligibility requirements, pain and symptom management, and care of the hospice patient as death approaches. Information about reimbursement, documentation, and anticipated changes and additions to the hospice benefit are also presented.

The purpose of this program is to describe the history of hospice care, the role and responsibilities of the nurse, and the regulations covering hospice. After studying the information presented here, you will be able to:

• Describe the development of hospice work.
• Explain the influence of case management on hospice practice.
• List five responsibilities of the hospice nurse case manager.
• State the relationship between Medicare eligibility and hospice services.
• List three principles of hospice pain management.
• Identify three symptoms that commonly require intervention during hospice care.
• Explain three ways in which the hospice nurse supports the patient and family as death approaches.