Depends on who is running the hospice. My Dad was in the only hospice available in his small town; it was in the hospital, and governed by the Doctors. He writhed in anguish while the idiots put morphine cream on his wrists.
We demanded in the last few days, after he was completely incoherent, that they sedate him. We were told that the Doctors were "afraid" to accidentally overdose him...a terminally ill cancer patient.
They upped the drugs; but not enough.
They also took out his saline IV without our permission...using the "no extraordinary means" provision that he had signed a few months earlier. That actually caused his incoherence and death. His lips cracked, while we desperately tried to get him any fluid that we could with their little "swabs."
The Doctors that allow this are ghouls and they should be forced to sit in the room twenty-four hours per day, right next to the family members, watching the biological effects that their decisions have on patients. The DEA agents who have caused this type of decision-making should be sitting right next to them.
That is a shame. I did not know there was such a big difference between places. The hospice center I was at never said "NO" to anyone.
The nurses asked people 10 times a day the level of pain they had. They just had the doctors increase their meds, and they did. No questions asked.
If fact, that was their policy. Whatever it takes. No one should suffer from lack of pain meds.
They knew people become immune after awhile and will need more and more to manage their pain.