Am I whiny or is this too much?

[goodywhyte]

I have recently returned to home health after spending most all my 20 years in ICU/CVR. I hired as the admissions/assessments nurse and part of the "management". I'm doing admits, recerts, post hospital, discharges, sup visits in a wide geographical area. Originally it was stated that my work would be 60% field, 40% office. In reality it's 100% field and the few times a week I'm in the office I'm writing like a fiend. This job also entails a good portion of case management/coordination too, until the case gets set up and all things rolling. Unfortunately, the job is killing me. I usually am on the absolute run 9 hours a day, last week there were 2 12 hour days and I am facing about 14 hours of paperwork right now because the entire last week was patients and miles. The DON said that nurses love home health because of the flexibility. What flexibility would that be? Perhaps I'm not working "smart". But, my daughter wants her mom back...Friday night my dog even chimed in by eating my pager! How many admits, recerts, etc should I be able to do in a week...including case set up and paperwork? Any responses, suggestions, advice, will be incredibly welcome. I'm worn out, stressed out, and have gained 10 pounds from sitting on my behind driving...this is totally not a good thing!

Cordially,

Goody

[barefootlady, ADN, RN]

After reading all of these posts I have no advice but I was clearly reminded of why I quit HH. I truly admire those who stick with it but I felt abused, misused, hounded and lied to by the agency and the manager. I do not like to say never, it always come back to haunt me, but I really do not want to do HH again. Hats off to the HH nurses, you do a remarkablly difficult job.

[erroridiot]

After reading all of these posts I have no advice but I was clearly reminded of why I quit HH. I truly admire those who stick with it but I felt abused, misused, hounded and lied to by the agency and the manager. I do not like to say never, it always come back to haunt me, but I really do not want to do HH again. Hats off to the HH nurses, you do a remarkablly difficult job.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if a nurse "in love with home care" could find a job without being abused, misused, hounded and lied to by the agency and or its management? Does this job exist? The entire industry can't be evil and inhumane.

I hope you can find a better job - and peace.

[lossforimagination]

After reading all of these posts I have no advice but I was clearly reminded of why I quit HH. I truly admire those who stick with it but I felt abused, misused, hounded and lied to by the agency and the manager. I do not like to say never, it always come back to haunt me, but I really do not want to do HH again. Hats off to the HH nurses, you do a remarkablly difficult job.

Well, for sure don't consider working at a hospital. I did med/surg for 10 years at different hospitals, and hated every moment. Talk about feeling abused and misused! I've worked home health for a year and feel so much happier, even with being on call every other week (but rarely get a call which requires to see a client). My biggest complaints are the vast amounts of paperwork and poor reimbursement for all the gas and miles on my car....but still, sooooo much better than hospital work!

[Cindy5]

Dear Goody

Your are not whiny. I have been in Home care for 18 months now, And I have yet mastered the paper work. I recently decreased my hrs and My manager talked me into doing 10 hrs day x 4 days, having a day off. The paper work is very over whelming. Recerts, Oasis, Soc, roc, on and on. I Start my day at 8am with 6 patients a day, We do our paper work on computer, people come home very sick a basic visit is about 45 min, documentation 30-45 min. If the patient has several wounds you need to document on each wound. I would work 9-10hrs and getting paid for only 7.5 hrs. I case manage between 27-30 patients over a week. Responsible for all even if another nurse visits for you. Admissions equal three visits and the paper work is about 1-2 hrs. Not to mention travel time, blood draws and dropping off at the lab, all this included in your day besides paper work. I feel that I ready to leave home care. I really love home care, Hate the paper work.

The time it takes for you to do a basic revisit and the paperwork is about the same for me. We have to hand write everything and have numerous forms to fill out. Changing wound care orders generates a two page nurses note, a wound assessment form, physician order sheet and a wound care instruction sheet for the patient's home. We are switching to computers within two months. I thought this would speed things up. Has computer use helped you spped up your documentation?