Practice Setting
Hospice and palliative care practice settings focus on providing compassionate, holistic care to individuals with serious, chronic, or terminal illnesses. The goal is to enhance quality of life by managing symptoms, controlling pain, offering emotional and spiritual support, and assisting patients and families with decision-making and end-of-life planning.
These services are delivered across several settings, including:
Hospice inpatient units: Facilities specifically designed to provide intensive comfort care when symptoms cannot be managed at home.
Patient homes: Many patients receive hospice or palliative care at home, where interdisciplinary teams (nurses, physicians, social workers, chaplains, aides) visit to offer medical care, counseling, and support.
Hospitals: Palliative care teams often work within hospitals to assist with symptom management and advance care planning for hospitalized patients.
Skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and assisted living facilities: Hospice teams partner with facility staff to provide additional end-of-life care.
Outpatient palliative care clinics: Patients with serious illness but not necessarily near the end of life can receive ongoing symptom management and supportive care.
The setting is highly patient- and family-centered, emphasizing dignity, respect for individual values, communication, and coordinated care. The environment tends to be quieter, more personalized, and supportive compared to acute medical settings.
Preceptorship Description
Hospice and palliative care practice settings focus on providing compassionate, holistic care to individuals with serious, chronic, or terminal illnesses. The goal is to enhance quality of life by managing symptoms, controlling pain, offering emotional and spiritual support, and assisting patients and families with decision-making and end-of-life planning.
These services are delivered across several settings, including:
Hospice inpatient units: Facilities specifically designed to provide intensive comfort care when symptoms cannot be managed at home.
Patient homes: Many patients receive hospice or palliative care at home, where interdisciplinary teams (nurses, physicians, social workers, chaplains, aides) visit to offer medical care, counseling, and support.
Hospitals: Palliative care teams often work within hospitals to assist with symptom management and advance care planning for hospitalized patients.
Skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and assisted living facilities: Hospice teams partner with facility staff to provide additional end-of-life care.
Outpatient palliative care clinics: Patients with serious illness but not necessarily near the end of life can receive ongoing symptom management and supportive care.
The setting is highly patient- and family-centered, emphasizing dignity, respect for individual values, communication, and coordinated care. The environment tends to be quieter, more personalized, and supportive compared to acute medical settings.
Specialties
Home Health
Hospice / Palliative