Participating and Supportive Hospices

Good hospice care is essential for patients considering aid in dying, and for their loved ones.

Most hospices provide “support” for patients considering or using medical aid in dying, but the actual services can vary significantly. It’s crucial to ask for details about what their providers and bedside staff can and cannot do regarding aid-in-dying.

What can their doctors or nurse practitioners do or not do? Some hospices permit their providers to act as prescribers or consultants, others only allow them to serve as consultants, and some do not allow their providers to participate in aid-in-dying at all.

What can their nurses and other bedside staff do or not do? Much of aid-in-dying care happens between the prescription and the day of death. Hospices that train their nurses to monitor and coordinate care with prescribers, help ensure a safer and more peaceful process. On the day of death, some hospices allow their nurses to prepare these dangerous medications, manage non-oral routes, and remain at the bedside to provide essential support from ingestion through death, while others do not.

These hospices have completed Academy in-service or trainings:

These hospices have provided their information for listing:

Your state organization may have more local hospice referral information:

Teaching and supporting best practices for the care of patients considering or completing medical aid in dying.

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