A Hospice Aide Interview is the most important stage in your hiring process.
To see what questions you may be asked at an interview for a hospice aide position, refer to the set below:
6 Common Hospice Aide Interview Questions and Answers
1. Tell us of your experience as a hospice aide.
As a hospice aide, I have provided personal services to many terminally ill patients. Administering medication, assisting with bathing and grooming, providing mobility support, and ensuring that their physical and mental wellbeing is maintained, have been part of my work. The work has been extremely satisfying even if it has been sad at times.
2. How do you deal with emotional loss while working with terminally ill patients?
Losing a patient that one has cared for, for months is not easy. No matter how much one tries to stay detached, one almost always develops feelings.
Emotional loss is something that I have come to terms with. I think of them leaving this world to go to a better place where there is no pain. And for someone like me who has to see the pain on a daily basis, it is a relief to feel that someone I have looked after will be free of it. That is how I deal with it.
3. If you found out that a fellow hospice aide was indulging in mercy killing of a patient, what would be your reaction?
My first instinct would be to stop him or her – even if the deed was being done with the patient’s consent. I would then report the offending hospice aide.
I understand that terminally ill patients go through immense physical and emotional pain, but there is no way that hospice staff members can take these matters into their own hands.
4. What do you feel about assisted suicide?
I have always had mixed feelings about assisted suicide. When I found out that there are clinics out there that legally handle assisted suicide, it did shock me a bit.
However, I believe that it is a “to each his own” thing here. I would probably never be able to work in a place that promoted assisted suicide, but I do not condemn it either.
5. What skills do you think are most important while working as a hospice aide?
What terminally ill patients require the most are empathy and love. I believe that a hospice aide who is able to provide both is a successful one.
Additional skills that one needs are patience, physical dexterity, the ability to cope with temper tantrums, and the capability of managing emotionally distressed or violent patients with tact.
6. Why did you choose to work as a hospice aide?
Providing someone with care at the end of their lives is hugely fulfilling. I am emotionally stable, but I feel quite strongly for terminally ill patients. I chose this work because this is where I can make the most difference.
Related: Hospice Aide Resume Sample