Written for a composite patient's daughter, this NU435 Unit 2 brief sets out who qualifies for the Medicare hospice benefit, what it pays for, and what it stops paying for. Searches like "nu 435 unit 2 assignment example", "nu435 unit 2 sample" and "nu435 unit 2 example" land here.
Does My Father Qualify for Hospice, and What Changes If He Does? A Plain-Language Eligibility and Benefit Brief
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
NU435: Hospice and Palliative Nursing Care
Unit 2 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Composite family written as a model document. Copayment figures are bracketed because they can change; check current Medicare materials.
Does He Qualify?
Under Medicare, a person can choose hospice when three things are true (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, n.d.):
He has Medicare Part A.
Two doctors, usually the hospice medical director and his own doctor, certify that his life expectancy is six months or less "if the terminal illness runs its normal course."
He signs a statement choosing hospice.
A prognosis is an estimate, and some people live longer than six months on hospice; that is why doctors recertify him at set times rather than ending care at six months.
Benefit Periods
First period: 90 days.
Second period: 90 days.
After that: an unlimited number of 60-day periods, each needing recertification and a face-to-face visit with a hospice doctor or nurse practitioner.
What Hospice Pays For, in the Order You Will Meet It
A nurse's first visit, usually within a day or two, and regular nurse visits after that.
Hospice aide visits for bathing and personal care.
Medical equipment, such as a hospital bed, wheelchair or oxygen.
Medicines for pain and symptoms related to his cancer, with a copayment of up to [$5] each.
Social worker and chaplain visits, if he and you want them.
Short inpatient stays for symptoms that cannot be managed at home, and short respite stays so you can rest.
Bereavement support for the family for up to 13 months after his death.
The Four Levels of Care
Routine home care: most days; the team visits him at home.
Continuous home care: a nurse stays for long periods during a crisis, such as uncontrolled pain, until it settles.
General inpatient care: a short stay in a facility when symptoms cannot be managed at home.
Respite care: up to five days in a facility so the family caregiver can rest.
What Stops
Medicare payment for his immunotherapy and any other treatment aimed at curing the cancer.
Payment for room and board if he moves to a nursing home; hospice care there is covered, but the room is not.
Care from outside providers that the hospice has not arranged, for his terminal illness.
If He Changes His Mind
He can stop hospice at any time and return to standard Medicare coverage, including immunotherapy if his doctors recommend it. He can choose hospice again later if he qualifies.
For Nurses: Quick Reference
Eligibility and levels of care follow Medicare's hospice benefit rules; hospice is one part of the broader palliative care described in the National Consensus Project guidelines (Ferrell et al., 2018).
References
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Medicare hospice benefits. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Ferrell, B. R., Twaddle, M. L., Melnick, A., & Meier, D. E. (2018). National Consensus Project clinical practice guidelines for quality palliative care guidelines, 4th edition. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 21(12), 1684-1689. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2018.0431
How this NU435 Unit 2 example is structured
The brief moves from the question the family asked, whether he qualifies, to the one they had not thought to ask, what changes. Eligibility comes first and stays literal: the phrase if the terminal illness runs its normal course is kept word for word, with a line explaining that a prognosis is an estimate people sometimes outlive, which is why recertification exists. The coverage list follows in the order a family meets the services, starting with the first nurse visit. The four levels of care are defined by when each is used, so continuous home care reads as crisis staffing rather than a permanent nurse. What stops receives equal space: Medicare payment for the immunotherapy and anything else aimed at curing the cancer, nursing home room and board, and outside care the hospice has not arranged. Revocation closes the brief.
Get an NU435 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Some Unit 2 prompts want a brief for a family and others one for new staff, and the register differs completely between them. A first brief costs nothing: name the audience your instructions specify, include the grading rubric, and a version pitched to that reader is delivered in 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
NU435 Unit 2 questions, answered
Does the brief need to cite the regulation itself?
Citing the regulation directly is stronger than citing a hospice agency's website. The hospice conditions sit in Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 418, and Medicare publishes a plain-language booklet on hospice benefits that restates the rules for families. Using both lets the brief be exact and readable at once. Check that any booklet you cite is the current edition, since copayment details are updated.
What if the patient in my case is not on Medicare?
Medicaid hospice benefits in most states follow the Medicare structure closely, and many private insurers use similar rules, though not identical ones. If your case names another payer, say so in the brief and describe only what you can verify. Children are a notable exception: under a provision of the Affordable Care Act, children on Medicaid or CHIP can receive hospice without giving up curative treatment.
How should the brief handle a patient who might outlive six months?
Plainly, because families worry about it. A prognosis is an estimate, and the benefit allows unlimited 60-day periods after the first two, each with recertification. A patient who improves may be discharged from hospice and can elect it again later. The sample gives that its own short paragraph so the six-month figure does not read to a daughter as a deadline.