Doing private visits as independent nurse

Hi There
I have the same ideas and am wondering how you are doing with your private visist. Do you have to work under an MD?

I'm not so sure that you need an MD.

When I did private duty, we dealt with the MD the same way as when we worked with the agency, but no agency. No paperwork or phone calls to agency. If the doctor gave orders over the phone or at a visit, we communicated them to the family if the family was not present, and just followed the orders as we normally would. No fuss, no muss.

Oh wow!
That is great! Is this in all states or state specific?
I use to do community nursing back in the day when we could prefill etc. Then they wouldnt reimburse for it anymore.
But now they realize we kept many people out of the hospital by monitoring them on a regular basis.
Duh!
I would love to do this private duty on my own.

Have you found out any more information about private duty? I have recently begun looking into this myself...maybe we could share ideas.

Hi--thanks for starting an interesting discussion. Seems that there are a lot of us out there who are feeling the pull to use our hearts and minds and skills as nursing entrepreneurs! I was a Postpartum/Newborn Home Visiting Nurse for my county's Health Department for 7 1/2 years. As with most Health Dept. functions, my duties were carried out without a doc's direct input 99% of the time. Because I also did high risk prenatal home visits for fetal monitoring, BP checks, urine protein checks, etc., my visits were requested by a physician, and the results reported back to him/her. I am considering doing as one of the other writers has said, and marketing myself to OB/GYN offices via in-services and a brochure. I have collected tons of information citing the fact that outcomes for mother & baby are greatly improved when an RN makes a home visit within 48 hours of hospital d/c. I plan to design a form similar to the one I used @ the Health Dept., and I would return form to OB for mom, and to pediatrician for baby, if the visit were done specifically by MD request. Because I am also a Certified Breastfeeding Educator, I would also, with permission, put brochures in OB offices advertising my services as a "postpartum doula" to help with breastfeeding issues, assess how well mom and baby are doing, etc. So I would market myself to the public as well. And, as someone said, those clients financially able to do so, would be inclined to pay for reasonably-priced services. Any other postpartum/newborn HV RN's out there? Would love to hear from you!

I would love to try the postpartum/newborn home visit nurse job. Working in the hospital setting is literally draining the life right out of me. I guess I just lack the confidence to get started. Perhaps one day I will give it a try. Right now, I am too physically and emotionally compromised and way too close to a nervous breakdown to stress myself anymore with new adventures. SIGH!!!!!!!!

nurturing_angel,

I'm so sorry that hospital nursing is draining the life out of you. I completely understand. If you could find a support group in your area ("Ladies Who Launch" is a great one for women--I did their incubation course, where everyone in the (small) group brainstorms about each other's ideas for starting their own business). A group like this could really help your self-confidence. You can do it. You can do anything you want to do. (I say this as much to myself as I do to you). Best wishes to you!

I have wanted so much to do home postpartum visits for a long time now, but was unsure about the legal or liability issues.
I've been an OB nurse for 12 years, taught prenatal classes for a number of years, and truly love helping young parents figure out all the mysteries of newborn care! I would love to be able to offer my assistance in the home in the first weeks, with breastfeeding, or whatever is needed! I was looking at it more from the "postpartum doula" perspective than the community health nurse type of thing, but obviously, if I see a baby that looks really jaundiced, I'm going to suggest that they see the pediatrician, etc.

What about the legalities, though, since I am a RN? Also, how do you figure out how much to charge?

How do I find out how to get started? I'd love to know more!

Britte