When Symptoms Can’t Be Managed at Home
All hospices also must offer inpatient care for help in the assessment and management of acute, complex, or uncontrolled symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath or distressing symptoms that cannot be provided for and controlled at home or in other settings.
Who qualifies for Inpatient care?
Indications of the need for inpatient hospice care may include:
- Sudden deterioration requiring intensive nursing intervention
- Uncontrolled pain
- Uncontrolled nausea and vomiting
- Pathological fractures
- Respiratory distress that becomes unmanageable
- Symptom relief via intravenous medications that require close monitoring
- Unmanageable agitation or restlessness that requires intensive intervention
- Uncontrolled seizures
Inpatient care is provided in a facility—most often nursing facilities and free-standing hospice inpatient units—that can provide around-the-clock clinical care.
