Job Description
Hospice and palliative care nurses provide care for, and help ease the pain of, terminally ill patients outside of hospitals. They advise other clinicians on how to best care for the dying patient. Some may also run debriefings for other nurses who have been upset by a patient’s death.

Median Salary
$66,000

Education Requirements
RN license, with associates or baccalaureate degree. Some master’s programs exist, but an advanced degree is not considered a prerequisite. There is also a voluntary certification process offered by the National Board for Certification of Hospice and Palliative Nurses.

Job Outlook
As the American population continues to age, hospice nurses are in especially high demand and job growth in this specialty is expected to see strong growth over the next 20 years.