Do a search for HBO in Michigan to find chambers in your area.
Generally HBO chambers are affiliated with large trauma centers, for-profit wound care centers, or government agencies due to the cost of the chamber and an HBO program.
Be wary of quack shacks operating chambers, particularly if they are not certified to take Medicare. Although HBO is really great for a lot of ailments, there are very specific indicators for HBO to be reimbursed by insurance due to the risks involved with HBO therapy. Some of these quack shacks will dive anyone who is willing to pay the cash, regardless of meeting the appropropriate criteria or having proper training.
Also note that many wound care/HBO centers are run by for-profit companies. Just because it has a hospital name on the letterhead does not mean it is not run by one of these for-profits. These companies are money driven and the risk of finding yourself in a situation with little training and resources is high as with all for-profit employers. The directors of these facilities are pressured to meet and exceed quotas and will fudge on things, including a little insurance fraud, in order to get special bonus checks that the staff generally are unaware of. HBO therapy is big money business for these wound care companies looking to pay their stockholders. It has very little to do with healing wounds, saving lives, and doing good things. There were two main HBO/wc companies until a takeover last year. This large conglomerate actually contracts with hospitals to put in the centers and while the hospital may hire some of the nurses, the for-profit company actually runs things.
You can check out the Baromedical Nurses Association at
www.hyperbaricnurses.org. You can get your certification through them after you have enough hours of sitting chamberside. There are HBO training courses out there. They are usually associated with the individual hospital if non-profit and the for-profit HBO/wc companies have their own classes.
You do not have to be an RN to run a chamber. They have hyperbaric techs, either LPNs or unlicensed personnel, that run chambers. As with all UAPs, it is cheaper to hire them to run the chambers so you may find it difficult to get a job unless you get into a company during a turnover period, which seems to happen when the staff gets a conscience about fraud.
If you can find a good employer, HBO is a fascinating specialty. I doubt that it will ever get to be a large nursing specialty due to the high cost of running a chamber that makes it unnecessary to have a nurse in attendance, only a doc that has been cleared to write orders and a tech to run the machine. I don't think this is safe but no one ever asks the nurse.
Would you like to comment?
