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I would think hospice is for shorter stay? It depends on the physician. If his health allows him to live longer; say 2 or 3 more years, then a nursing home is better. Lots of nursing home these days have nice facilities. Also most nursing homes have hospice also. I would recommend that you find a nursing home with hospice that suits his needs so he can move to the hospice right away when it is needed in the future in the same nursing home. Unless he is dying soon, I am not sure hospice is for him. My late mother-in-law died in the hospice and she almost went to a nursing home when they thought her cancer could be beaten. So to me, hospice is the dying in a short time (6 months) and the nursing home is for longer period of time, say 1 to 3 years.   We are searching for nursing homes now and I see that some of them have hospice also.  I would think the nursing home can help him with the pain.   The other thing is, when the patient goes to the hospice, the drugs/pain killers they provide are toxic and is not for life saving (that is why my late mom-in-law had more pain in the patient's ward, but much less in the hospice and she was gone in a week after she was mvoed to the hospice.) If you still want to save him for his quality of life, I would say try the nursing home with skilled care and see what they can do to help him first.   Just my 2 cents, Nina