AL says Mom can remain there til death but my concern is no RN or MD comes there. Any advice?

Group, what you describe in your post is a good overview of hospice, keep the patient comfortable, clean, and manage pain. There are differences between hospice agencies, some are nonprofit and some are for profit. Most people give non profits better reviews. You stated that she has no pain and is content. That is huge! Many people at the end of life are frightened, totally alone and confused. I dont mean to dismiss your concerns but it seems like it's going pretty well. I've done some hospice volunteering and I wish all the patients were in this condition.

Sorry about hospice experience. I have to say my Mom has received great help from them, but I don't agree with everything being "untreatable" Yes, AL is better than NH but shouldn't one's own MD visit once in a while, or at least an RN on staff?. My Mom refuses to get out to see her MD. Just because you are old, nothing should be done, if you are not in pain?

I only have one experience with hospice, with my mother, and I was too inexperienced. If the service is like the one here (outsourced), the hospice people will refuse to do anything except excessive bathing and medication. The head nurse shook her finger at me and warned me never to call 911, call them instead . When I called and told them she was becoming severely dehydrated, they said they would check with the doctor and get back tomorrow, but normally they don't do IV fluids.

Could just have been this particular agency, or maybe I didn't understand the terms, but It seemed to me they were too eager to put her in hospice to begin with. All she had wrong was dementia and some unexplainable heart numbers, and at her age (93) whatever was wrong they said would be untreatable anyway.

I would *never* put anyone in hospice again unless their condition was clearly short term terminal. My mother died of dehydration 5 days after going on hospice. Terrible experience. I'll never forgive myself for making this decision.