Quote:
Originally Posted by lindaelane
Honest question after doctors and nurses sometimes withheld prescribed pain medicine from my mother before hospice, but not after (her particular hospice had no social workers for the 4 days she was in hospice):
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Some people have at-home hospice care where nurses and doctors concentrate on comfort and pain relief without oversight by people who have advanced degrees in questioning doctor's decisions. Most hospice care is provided in a nursing home by Nursing Home Staff and Doctors- The same staff and doctors that are caring for you before your Status is changed to Hospice.
Your nursing home care changes very little- with the Hospice status being mostly a bookkeeping designation. For the most part you will continue to get the same medications and dosages you did before your status change. Increased medication will usually occur only in the final days of your life. Again- doctor's hands are tied by social workers and state and federal agencies that do yearly inspections and insist that a patient who is "Snowed" by pain medication is being denied quality of life.
I watched this happen 99% of the time over my 50 year career.