[biafra]

Can one go into home health nursing right off as a new RN?

[angshallad]

Personally, I would have found it difficult. There is a lot of autonomy as a home health nurse. I worked for four years in a hospital before going into home health nurse. I spent the first few years in the hospital picking the brains of other nurses on the floor. You just don't have that resource as a home health nurse. Even after a couple of years of home health nurse, I still pull on the resources I learnt working in the hospital. The agency I work for does not hire new nurses simply because they do not have enough nurses available to act as mentors. Best of luck.

[jnette]

I would say you could be hired, but as the above poster stated, it might not be the wisest thing to do at this point in your new career.

I, too, would find it preferable if a new nurse had a little exposure in a hospital setting where you have a little bit if everything... and plenty of back up and colleagues nearby to ask questions while you learn.

HH can be scary as a new nurse with little experience. Never know what you might run across out there in the field....

[caliotter3]

I developed an interest in HH while in school and actually got hired to do a particular case while I was still in school. I was told by the director of the agency where I did my hh clinical rotation that they would not hire anyone without a minimum of one year experience. In general, I would have to say that I agree. At the time that I started my first hh case, I was also working in a LTC facility as a newly licensed nurse and learning what I needed to know. In the home, you can run into anything. There is nobody but yourself to rely on. You can call your on-call nursing supervisor, but what if they can't be reached or what do you do in the meantime? Even with experience, there are times that I get insecure or downright scared in the home. I do not generally recommend hh for new nurses. The only exception: the agency "trains you to the case". You get a thorough orientation by an exceptional nurse. This rarely happens. When you look for a hh job, though, you should always ask about how they orient nurses to new cases. This is important to your survival in hh. Good luck, should you decide to try hh.