Hi JonZ: It is pretty emotional to care for the dying, but not as emotionally draining as it is for the family members that are there with them day in and day out. I have worked in different areas of nursing and can throughly say being a hospice nurse is by far the most rewarding. This is the one area that you can pray with a patient, pray with the family members and not worry about "crossing lines". One patient in particular asked me if I knew about God and can I please tell her about him. I was happy to oblige. Not only is it rewarding to see them have a sense of a new found peace; it bring about a sense of gratefulness, thankfulness in ones own life. You go home at the end of the day and realize, "you know what" things are'nt as bad as they could be.