Hospice Nurse: Duties, Salary, and How to Become One

Key takeaways

Hospice nurses provide end-of-life care, offering medical, emotional, and spiritual support to patients and families.

• According to Glassdoor, the estimated median total annual salary for hospice nurses in the US is $92,000 [1].

• Palliative care may start at the time of diagnosis and continue alongside treatment, whereas hospice care typically begins once curative therapies have ended.

• You can start your career as a hospice nurse by becoming a registered nurse first. This involves earning either a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), typically a four-year program, or an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN), which usually takes two years.

Being a support for those at their end of life and their loved ones can be incredibly rewarding. If you're drawn to hospice or palliative care, the University of Colorado’s Palliative Care: It's Not Just Hospice Anymore Specialization is a good launch point. This program introduces essential approaches for caring for individuals with life-limiting conditions, and helps prepare you for a meaningful role in health care, in as little as two months.

What is a hospice nurse?

A hospice nurse is a registered nurse (RN) who cares for terminally ill patients near the end of their life, helping them die as comfortably and as dignifiedly as possible, usually in their own homes.

Hospice nurse tasks and responsibilities

Hospice nurses provide compassionate care for patients, including spiritual and psychosocial support, on top of regular nurse duties. Their responsibilities include:

• Monitoring vital signs: Checking on a patient’s health daily, including monitoring their vital signs several times a day and recording any symptoms or potential medical concerns.

• Administering medication: Providing prescription drugs, IV drips, or shots for patients to make them feel better rather than get better.

• Spiritual support: Hospice nurses offer kindness and assistance in helping patients and their families navigate inevitable death and loss. Supporting a patient’s spirituality, such as cultural, religious, or lifestyle rituals, can help patients feel calm and connected as they accept that they are nearing the end of their lives.

• Psychosocial support: A hospice nurse provides mental, emotional, and social support to patients and families in a professional manner.

• Connecting with patients’ caregivers: Keeping family members abreast of what will happen is a part of a hospice nurse’s job. They educate caregivers on the patient’s conditions, medications, and how to cope during difficult times.

Hospice nurse: Skills and personality

Hospice nurses are strong in mind and emotion, as they must support patients and their families in approaching death.

In addition to the technical skills needed to be a nurse, hospice nurses should have the following skills and abilities:

• Ability to work independently

• Communication skills

• Compassion

• Creativity

• Cultural sensitivity

• Emotional strength

• Empathy

• Leadership

• Patience

A hospice nurse becomes close to patients, getting to know them on an intimate and personal level. While the subject of death is heavy, it can also be an extremely rewarding career path. Hospice nurses can help patients honor final wishes and live meaningfully, as highlighted by the American Nurses Association [2]. It takes a specific kind of person to become a hospice nurse, but it is a job that can be filled with beauty and dignity.

Where do hospice nurses work?

Hospice nurses tend to work one-on-one with patients in the patients’ homes, private care facilities, or hospitals, caring for terminally ill patients in their final days.

Hospice care vs. palliative care

Both hospice care and palliative care provide similar types of services, including making sure the patient is comfortable and relaxed. However, palliative care can be given at diagnosis and continue throughout treatment, while hospice care begins after disease treatment ceases—when it is clear that the patient will not survive the illness and has a limited amount of time to live.

Hospice nurse salary and job outlook 

Salaries for hospice nurses can vary depending on the type of facility or organization they’re working with, how much experience they have as a hospice nurse, and where they are located.

The estimated median total annual salary for hospice nurses in the US as of November 2025 is $92,000, according to Glassdoor [1]. This figure typically includes base salary and additional pay, which can represent profit-sharing, commissions, bonuses, or other forms of compensation.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics lists $93,600 as the median salary for registered nurses, with a 5 percent job growth rate between 2024 and 2034 [3]. Because hospice nurses are RNs with a specialization, their salaries and the factors that might make them higher or lower (such as location or level of experience) are similar.

How to become a hospice nurse

If you’re interested in a career path that allows you to help patients feel calm and fulfilled in their last days of living, then you might consider becoming a hospice nurse. It involves a slightly slower pace than an RN, but the work tends to require more emotional attachment.

1. Become a registered nurse (RN). 

To become a hospice nurse, you must first become a registered nurse. That means you’ll need to earn either a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) or an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN), which typically requires four or two years, respectively. Then, you must pass the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) exams and get licensed in the state you want to practice in. 

2. Gain work experience.

Typically, you’ll want to have at least one to two years of clinical nursing experience as an RN before diving into hospice care. As a hospice nurse, you’ll still be in charge of monitoring vital signs, managing symptoms, and other technical nursing tasks, but there will be an additional layer of preparing terminally ill patients for their last months or weeks.

Possessing a strong foundation of routine nursing tasks and responsibilities allows you to shift into helping patients feel better. Often, you’ll administer medications for pain relief rather than for curative reasons. You may have discussions with patients about what will make them feel most fulfilled before dying. This type of care requires intuition that’s only possible when you know the basics of nursing care very well.

Read more: 10 Common Nursing Interview Questions to Help You Practice and Prepare

3. Get certified.

To become a hospice nurse, you’ll need to get a certification offered by The Hospice and Palliative Care Credentialing Center (HPCC). The following certifications are available for roles within hospice and palliative care for registered nurses:

• Advanced Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse (ACHPN)

• Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse (CHPN)

• Certified Hospice and Palliative Pediatric Nurse (CHPPN)

• Certified Hospice and Palliative Licensed Nurse (CHPLN)

The most common certification for hospice nurses is the CHPN. If you have an advanced degree, such as that of a nurse practitioner, you qualify for the ACHPN.

Build your future career skills with our free resources

If you’re considering a career in the medical field or another area, subscribe to our YouTube channel to learn more about trending topics across industries. Or, explore free digital resources to guide you on your journey.

• Subscribe to Career Chat: AI in health care: uses, benefits, and concerns

• Watch on YouTube: Breaking the Stigma: How to Talk About Mental Health in the Workplace

• Take a career quiz: Career Test: What Career is Right for Me Quiz?

Whether you want to develop a new skill, get comfortable with an in-demand technology, or advance your abilities, keep growing with a Coursera Plus subscription. You’ll get access to over 10,000 flexible courses from industry leaders.

Build job-ready skills with Coursera Plus

Start 7-day free trial

• 
• 
• 
• 

Start 7-day free trial