Are you my nurse? Life and death in the hospice fast lane.

From its small-scale, community-based roots, hospice care in America has evolved into a competitive, highly-regulated industry. Hospice nurses today often find themselves challenged by increased patient caseloads, faster-paced work environments, and ever-growing documentation demands. This article addresses these issues through the lived experience of the author, a registered nurse who has worked "at the bedside" with terminally ill patients for over two decades.