Hospice of Cincinnati

Every hospice employee knows “the look.” It happens when someone asks you where you work. You tell them, and it’s followed by an awkward silence, a sigh, furrowed brows, a slow shake of the head, and then the response.

“That must be so hard.”

Yes, it can be hard, hospice employees will tell you. But most would likely add that the job is so rewarding, so meaningful, so impactful, that they wouldn’t want to do anything else.

“These families open up their lives to me. Hospice is a gift for them and for me. It goes both ways,” says Hospice of Cincinnati home care nurse Cathy Flem, RN, BSN, CHPN.

Staff at Hospice of Cincinnati, like Flem, find immense satisfaction and reward in their work. A 2017 study by research firm Press-Ganey of our staff confirmed this. In the survey, rankings from Hospice of Cincinnati employees put us in the 99th percentile nationally for overall employee engagement. In addition, they ranked us above the national average on all indicators, including support in the workplace, satisfaction with management, and whether they’d recommend us as an employer to others.

Flem, for one, marvels at her fortune in having landed in this profession. An anthropology degree, three children, a secretarial position at Hospice of Cincinnati, life events…all were turns on a winding path that eventually led Flem to her current vocation as a hospice nurse.

“Every single day, I have an experience that makes me shake my head over how remarkable the human spirit is,” she says.

Robin Hall, RN, BSN, DVM, who cares for patients at Hospice of Cincinnati’s East Inpatient Care Center in Anderson township, also feels deeply rewarded by her work. “I work one on one, day in and day out, with patients,” she says. “If I can make their day a little bit better, that makes a difference. That’s what drives me.”

And yes, those initials after her name are correct. Hall was a veterinarian prior to becoming a hospice nurse. For 20 years, she cared for furry, feathered and four-legged patients. But after the passing of her parents, a call to nursing beckoned.

“The whole reason I became a nurse was to do hospice nursing,” says Hall. “I think this is a true calling, and it’s definitely not for everybody. For me, it’s an honor to be part of my patients’ lives.”

Like Hall, married couple Randy and Melody Losey became hospice nurses after witnessing the impact of hospice in caring for family members at the end of life. The passion for nursing had been burning in Melody for a while, as early as high school, but life took her in a different direction. Later, caring for her grandmother and then her mother at the end of their lives reignited the flame.

Randy, on the other hand, never really pictured himself as a nurse. Formerly a general manager of a business, he dismissed Melody’s suggestion that he join her in applying to nursing school.

“At first, my response was, ‘Why would I want to be a nurse?’” Randy said. But after witnessing and helping Melody care for dying loved ones, his thinking shifted.

Now, both are registered nurses, and Randy says he can’t imagine doing anything else. When asked about the challenge and stress of caring for people at the end of life, he explains, “I came into nursing at a later age. I know what burnout is. I experienced stress for decades. I learned a lot through life. For me, this is not stressful. We do so much good.”

It takes an exceptional person to care for people who are in the final stages of life. If you are an experienced, caring professional who is interested in providing meaningful and compassionate end-of-life care to patients and families, we need you. Current openings at Hospice of Cincinnati include registered nurses, personal care specialists (STNA), clerical roles, and chaplains. Click here to find out more about careers at Hospice of Cincinnati, and to view a video featuring members of our staff talking about their experience working for us: https://www.hospiceofcincinnati.org/careers.shtml