First Visit
What to expect during the first hospice visit
What families can expect during a first hospice visit, including questions, care planning, symptoms, medications, and family support.
The first hospice visit is a time to understand the patient’s needs, answer family questions, and begin a care plan focused on comfort.
What the team may ask
The hospice team may ask about diagnosis, recent changes, pain, breathing, appetite, medications, falls, hospital visits, and what the family is most worried about.
What the family can ask
- Who do we call after hours?
- What symptoms should we report?
- What medications or equipment may be needed?
- How often will the team visit?
- What support is available for the family?
What happens next
The team explains the plan of care, coordinates next steps, and helps the family understand what support can begin.
How to prepare
Have medication lists, physician information, recent notes, and family questions ready if available. If you do not have everything, call anyway. The team can guide you.
Before the visit
Families can prepare by choosing a quiet place to talk, gathering the patient's medication bottles or list, and writing down the symptoms that have changed recently. If the patient is in assisted living, memory care, or a nursing facility, ask which staff member should be available for the hospice conversation.
The family should also decide who needs to be part of the visit. A spouse, adult child, caregiver, facility nurse, or responsible party may all have information that helps the team understand the patient's needs.
During the visit
The hospice team may assess the patient, review the care setting, ask about safety concerns, and explain what hospice can provide. This is also when the family can ask about medications, equipment, supplies, visit frequency, after-hours calls, and what symptoms should be reported right away.
If consent forms or benefit information are reviewed, ask for plain-language explanations. Families should understand what hospice changes and what it does not change.
What the nurse may assess
The first visit may include a review of pain, breathing, appetite, skin, mobility, falls, confusion, wounds, bowel or bladder concerns, and medication use. The nurse may also ask what has changed over the last few weeks or months and what the family is most worried about.
This assessment helps the team decide what support should begin first and what needs to be coordinated with the physician, facility, pharmacy, or equipment provider.
After the visit
After the first visit, the family should know who to call, what the first care steps are, and whether any medication, equipment, or supply needs are being coordinated. If anything is unclear, call the hospice team and ask before the next urgent moment.
What the family should leave with
By the end of the first visit, the family should know how to contact hospice, what symptoms to report, what medications or equipment may be ordered, and when the next visit or follow-up should happen. If the patient is in a facility, the family should understand how hospice communicates with facility staff.
What if the visit feels overwhelming?
Hospice often starts during an emotional time. Families do not need to remember everything at once. Write down the phone number, the most urgent care instructions, and the next step. Then ask the team who to call if more questions come up later.
Questions that can wait until the visit
Families often worry that they need every answer before hospice arrives. They do not. The first visit is the right time to ask about visit schedules, comfort medications, equipment, supplies, caregiver teaching, family support, and what signs should trigger a call.
If the patient is tired or the family is emotional, focus on the essentials first: who to call, what to do tonight, and what happens next.
About this guide
Written by Caritas Hospice Editorial Team
Published July 14, 2026
This article is for general educational information and does not replace medical advice or an individual hospice eligibility assessment.