Travel Hospice LPN Jobs

On average, the salary for a Hospice Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) in the United States is approximately $50,000 per year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, these figures can vary significantly based on different factors such as geographical location, years of experience, size of the hospice, and any additional certifications held by the LPN.

Hospice Care Nurses provide care to patients when a disease, such as advanced cancer, gets to the point when treatment can no longer cure or control it. The hospice LPN works with a team of professionals who work together to manage the patient’s symptoms so that a person’s last days may be spent comfortably, with dignity and quality, and surrounded by their loved ones. Hospice LPNs may work either on shifts, assisting one patient for several hours at a time, or intermittently, traveling to care for several patients in one day. They guide a patient and families through the initial hospice assessment, develop the plan of care, and determine the types of counseling, and care the patient’s caregiver and family members will need before, during, and after the patient’s death. Administration of pain medications, and other meds that help ease the dying process, is a key responsibility of the hospice LPN.

Hospice travel nursing jobs are available in hospitals, private care facilities, and the home of someone who is receiving end-of-life care. Hospitals often employ a few people to help provide hospice care, but they mostly work for another company that specializes in end-of-life care.

An effective travel hospice nurse cares for the patients with patience, empathy, and compassion. They also need to be skilled at listening, problem-solving, and excellent communication skills. These abilities not only make them effective nurses but caring and supportive ones as well.

Compassion

Hospice nurses provide more than just care; they offer companionship and comfort. They work to educate and inform patients and their families and help them cope with the stresses of end-of-life issues.

Communication

Hospice travel nurses need to be able to communicate clearly and concisely with coworkers and patients to do their best work. For a patient, this often means providing comfort and care as possible as they can.

Details

When working with a comfort care plan, medication dosage, patient charts, or reports, it is important to give attention to detail at all times to find information that could have longstanding consequences. Nurses who work at hospices — and particularly nurses that work in triage settings — must be able to think critically no matter the situation and always prioritize patient care.

Self-Care

Hospice nurses have a demanding role, so it’s important they take the time to focus on themselves and their own well-being. If they don’t understand that self-care can help them grow more productive and provide a high level of care to patients, then their compassion will become compromised by exhaustion.

Education & License Requirements

To work as a hospice LPN, you must first enroll in a State-Approved LPN Program. These programs, offered by vocational schools, community colleges, and hospitals, typically last one year and combine classroom instruction with supervised clinical experiences. Coursework usually includes nursing, biology, and pharmacology.

You must then pass the NCLEX-PN Exam: After completing the LPN program, graduates must pass the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN) to obtain licensure. This exam tests knowledge and skills necessary for safe and effective nursing practice.

Certifications

Although not always required, a certification in hospice and palliative care can enhance your job prospects. The National Board for Certification of Hospice and Palliative Nurses (NBCHPN) offers certification for LPNs.

While compensation offers can vary greatly depending on the contract or agency offering, pay packages for hospice travel nursing jobs typically have four major components: hourly taxable wages, meals and incidentals, housing, and travel.

Hourly Pay

Full-time nurses working at healthcare facilities receive a salary, but most travel nurse employers offer hourly wages. Every pay package must include a taxable hourly wage, and the amount can vary depending on the shift, location, and specialty required of the assignment.

Housing

Housing payments can be included in a payment from a staffing agency. This is typically offered in two ways. Either the company is providing housing, or the traveler is taking the housing stipend. It is more beneficial for the traveler to take the stipend for two primary reasons. First, they will have a choice in where they stay. Everyone’s definitions of comfortable and acceptable are different. The second reason the housing stipend is more beneficial for them is that it can be given as a nontaxable amount.

Meals and Incidentals

Also known as per diems, meal and incidental stipends provide a daily budget for daily living expenses. These standards vary depending on the cost of living in cities and states across the country.

Travel Expenses

Travel is the last portion of the pay package. Many recruiters may not even offer travel and instead put that money into the per diems or housing for their traveler so they are receiving the benefits over the entire contract, not just at the very beginning or end. While a travel stipend can be used to cover the cost of a flight for the traveler, it is more often than not used to subsidize the traveler’s expenses to and from an assignment. Travel expenses can be offered as a reimbursement rate per mile, though many agencies will opt to offer a flat rate to and from an assignment.

Many travel nurses find work through recruitment agencies and marketplaces, which means you have better access to job boards to choose your schedule, location, and salary. When you begin browsing for a nurse hospice position, be sure to consider the housing options, the benefits, the guaranteed hours' policy, and the recruiting company’s overall reputation.

The good news is that Fusion Marketplace has everything you need when it comes to finding the perfect traveling nursing jobs. Here, you have the freedom to compare benefits, packages, and staffing agencies—all in one place. So find your next job today.