starting hospice care Aurora CO | Hospice in Arapahoe County CO

Saying yes to hospice is one of the hardest decisions a family will ever make. Once it’s made, a new question almost immediately takes its place: Now what?

The first 48 hours of hospice care can feel uncertain, even when you know you’ve made the right choice. You may be wondering who will show up at the door, what they’ll do, and what comfort will actually look like for your loved one.

This guide answers all of that. Here is a clear, honest picture of what to expect in the first two days after hospice care begins.

What Happens on Day One

The Admission Visit

The first visit is the most structured one you will experience. Within hours of enrollment, a registered nurse from the hospice team will come to your home. This visit typically lasts one to two hours and covers several important areas.

During admission, the nurse will:

Review your loved one’s medical history and current diagnoses with you
Assess their physical condition – including pain levels, breathing, skin, mobility, and mental comfort
Establish a care plan tailored to their specific needs and goals
Explain what to expect going forward, including how to reach the on-call team at night or on weekends
Answer your questions about medications, daily care routines, and what the coming days may look like

You don’t need to have everything figured out. The nurse is there to guide you, not just assess your loved one.

Equipment and Supplies Are Delivered

One of the most immediate sources of relief families notice is that equipment arrives quickly, often on the same day as the admission visit. Through Aspen Grove Hospice’s durable medical equipment (DME) partnerships, the supplies and devices your loved one needs are coordinated and delivered directly to your home.

Depending on the care plan, this may include:

A hospital bed or specialty mattress
A bedside commode or shower chair
A wheelchair or walker
Oxygen equipment
Medications for pain, anxiety, or symptom relief

All of this is covered under the Medicare Hospice Benefit when related to the terminal diagnosis. You will not be handed a list and sent to figure it out on your own.

Medications Are Reviewed and Adjusted

The hospice nurse and medical director work together to review your loved one’s current medications. Some may be continued, others may be adjusted or discontinued if they no longer support comfort. New medications to manage pain, breathlessness, agitation, or nausea may be ordered.

The goal is not to add complexity. It is to simplify and focus entirely on comfort.

Medications are often delivered to your home as well, so you do not have to make trips to a pharmacy during this sensitive time.

What Happens on Day Two

More of the Care Team Begins to Arrive

Hospice care is delivered by an interdisciplinary team, and by the second day, you will begin meeting more of its members. Not every discipline visits on day two, but introductions typically begin rolling in based on your loved one’s needs and the care plan.

CNAs and hospice aides may visit to help with bathing, grooming, oral care, and personal hygiene. This hands-on support takes a significant physical burden off family caregivers and keeps your loved one clean and comfortable.
A social worker will often reach out within the first day or two to connect with the family. They help with practical matters like paperwork and advance directives, but also offer emotional support, community resources, and guidance for navigating what can be a very disorienting time.
A spiritual care coordinator or chaplain may visit, at your request or as part of the care plan, to offer comfort that goes beyond physical symptoms. This is available to patients and families of all beliefs, or no belief system at all.

You do not have to accept every service offered, and you can always add or change support as needs shift.

The Care Plan Is Already Working

By the end of day two, the care plan put in place during admission begins to show up in real, visible ways. Your loved one should have the right medications available. Equipment should be set up. The team should have a scheduled rhythm for visits, and you should have a direct number to call anytime, day or night.

This is what routine home care, the most common level of hospice care, looks like when it is functioning well. It is not a single nurse managing everything alone. It is a coordinated team working around a shared goal: your loved one’s comfort and dignity.

Learn more about the 4 levels of care.

Common Questions Families Ask in the First 48 Hours

Can hospice care start on the same day enrollment is confirmed? In most cases, yes. Aspen Grove Hospice works to initiate services quickly after the enrollment process is complete, including same-day or next-day admission visits and equipment delivery when possible.
What if my loved one’s condition changes in the first 48 hours? Call your hospice nurse directly. You have 24/7 access to an on-call clinical team. If symptoms escalate, the care plan can be adjusted immediately. In more acute situations, hospice can also authorize a higher level of care, such as continuous home care or general inpatient care.
Does the whole team visit every day? No. Visit frequency is based on need and the care plan. Your nurse will typically visit several times per week. Aides may come daily or a few times per week. Social workers and chaplains usually visit less frequently unless you need more support.
Will my loved one be in pain during the transition to hospice? The hospice team’s priority is pain and symptom management. Medications are reviewed and adjusted during the admission visit, and comfort measures are put into place quickly. If pain is a concern, communicate it clearly with the nurse during admission.
What if I’m not sure my loved one qualifies? A hospice admissions nurse can walk you through the eligibility guidelines at no obligation. Medicare defines eligibility broadly, and a physician certification is what ultimately determines enrollment. If you are unsure, the best step is simply to ask.
Many families also have misconceptions about what hospice means for their loved one’s care. Our post Common Hospice Myths and What the Facts Actually Say addresses the concerns families most often raise before saying yes.

After the First 48 Hours

The first two days set the foundation. After that, the care team finds its rhythm. Visits become familiar. Medications get fine-tuned. Families start to feel less alone in this.

Hospice is not a single event. It is an ongoing relationship with a team that stays with you and your loved one for the entire journey, and with your family for a full year of bereavement support after loss.

Your Next Step Is Just a Conversation

If your family is considering hospice care in Denver, Aurora, or the surrounding Front Range communities, Aspen Grove Hospice is here to answer your questions before you ever make a decision.

Call us at (720) 999-9854 or speak with our hospice team to schedule a conversation. There is no pressure and no obligation, only clarity, and someone who genuinely wants to help.

What Is Hospice Care

Hospice is a Medicare-certified, physician-directed model of care designed for patients with a life-limiting illness and a prognosis of six months or less if the disease runs its natural course. The focus shifts from curative treatment to comfort, quality of life, and whole-person support — for both the patient and the family.

Hospice is not a place. It is not giving up. And it is not only for the final days of life.

Hospice Means Giving Up. This is the most common barrier families face, and it is worth addressing directly. Choosing hospice is not surrendering to an illness. It is a deliberate, informed decision to redirect the goals of care toward comfort, dignity, and quality of life. Many families describe the decision to start hospice as one of the most loving things they did for their loved one. Studies consistently show that patients enrolled in hospice earlier often live as long and in many cases longer than those who continue aggressive treatments. What changes is not the length of life, but the quality of it. If you want to understand the research on timing, our blog on how early hospice enrollment can help patients and families goes deeper into what the data and families’ actual experiences show.

Hospice Is Only for the Last Few Days of Life. Many families do not reach out until a loved one has days or hours left and one of their most common regrets is that they did not call sooner. Hospice eligibility begins when a physician certifies that a patient has a life-limiting illness with a prognosis of six months or less. That window is far longer than most people realize, and those months matter. Earlier enrollment means more time for your loved one to have pain and symptoms managed, more time for your family to receive guidance, and more time for meaningful connection. Explore: Eligibility Guidelines

You Have to Choose Between Hospice and Your Doctor. Hospice does not replace your loved one’s existing physicians. It works alongside them. Every patient enrolled in hospice receives oversight from a hospice Medical Director who coordinates care, but the patient’s own physician remains involved in the care plan. Hospice brings an additional layer of support, not a replacement for the relationships already in place.

Hospice Is Only for Cancer Patients. Hospice is appropriate for any life-limiting diagnosis, not just cancer. Common diagnoses that qualify include:

Congestive heart failure (CHF)
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
End-stage renal disease
Stroke and neurological conditions
Liver disease
ALS and other neurological disorders

If you are unsure whether your loved one’s diagnosis qualifies, our guide on who qualifies for hospice in Colorado covers eligibility, prognosis requirements, and the most common qualifying diagnoses in detail.

Hospice Means Dying Alone or in a Facility. Most hospice care is delivered wherever the patient calls home – whether that is a private residence, an assisted living community, a memory care facility, or a nursing home. The goal is always to bring care to the patient, not the other way around. At Aspen Grove Hospice, our team of registered nurses and CNAs and aides makes regular visits, and our care team is available around the clock. Patients are not left alone, and neither are their families.

Starting Hospice Is Permanent, You Can Never Leave. This is one of the most important myths to correct, because the fear of being “locked in” stops many families from even having the conversation. Hospice is entirely voluntary. A patient or family can choose to discontinue hospice at any time, this is called revocation, and return to curative treatment if that is the right decision. There is no penalty and no waiting period to re-enroll if circumstances change. Learn more: Understanding Your Hospice Flexibility Options

Hospice Only Addresses Physical Pain. Hospice care is built around the whole person, not just the body. The hospice model is interdisciplinary by design. In addition to medical care and pain management, the hospice team includes:

Social workers who help navigate family dynamics, financial concerns, and care decisions
Spiritual care providers who offer support aligned with each patient’s beliefs and values
Emotional support for both the patient and the people who love them
Volunteer support for companionship, errands, and caregiver relief

Hospice meets patients and families where they are, in every sense of the phrase.

Hospice Care Is Expensive. For most patients, hospice is covered entirely by Medicare under the Medicare Hospice Benefit. Medicaid and most private insurance plans also cover hospice. What is included under the benefit is broad: physician services, nursing visits, medications related to the terminal diagnosis, medical equipment, aide services, and counseling, all at no cost to the patient or family. There are no hidden fees for covered services. This is one of the most underutilized benefits in Medicare, and one of the most valuable.

Family Has to Handle Everything Alone. The hospice model is specifically designed to support caregivers, not just patients. Through respite care, one of the four Medicare-covered levels of hospice care, caregivers can receive temporary relief while their loved one is cared for in a facility for up to five consecutive days. Beyond respite, the entire hospice team functions as a support system for the family unit.

Grief Support Ends When Your Loved One Passes. Hospice bereavement care does not stop at the time of death. Under Medicare, hospice providers are required to offer bereavement support to families for at least 13 months following a loss. At Aspen Grove Hospice, our bereavement care for families includes ongoing counseling, check-ins, and connection to community resources. Because grief is not a single moment it is a process, and no family should navigate it alone.

The Conversation Worth Having

If a myth has been standing between your family and a conversation about hospice, we hope this helps clear the path. Call Aspen Grove Hospice at (720) 999-9854 or schedule a free in-home consultation to speak with our care team today.

The decision to explore hospice is not the end of hope, it is a shift toward the kind of care that honors your loved one’s comfort, dignity, and wishes.

Our team is here to answer your questions without pressure, without jargon, and without rushing you. If you are ready to learn more about what hospice care in the Denver Metro area could look like for your family, visit our starting hospice care page or contact us directly.

Main Nav Menu

What Hospice Looks Like in the First 48 Hours