Calling all HH Nurses, roll call

Specialties Home Health

Published

Hi, as a newly appointed moderator, I want to live this forum up a bit. I just resigned my position as a HH supervisor, to go back to the field.

I have been a nurse 20 years, 17 in critical care, mostly cardiac critical care, and the last 2.5 years in HH, or asthma disease management , which I also had to leave because I hated to be in a cube farm all day.

I still love HH, even though PPS is the pits, even though the OASIS would make good kindling for a massive bonfire, and even with all the rest of the paperwork, it is the most rewarding nursing I have ever done!!

PS, I went back to my former VNA who is now paying $30/hr, yes, you read that right, to work 3 out of 4 weekends. Since weekends work well for me, it's a good deal.

Let's hear from all the HH nurses out there. Out of all those registered members, there's got to be plenty of us on this BB!! :D

I work as Director of services for a Non -medical Home health Called Home care living I set up care and do the marketing indroduce the caregivers/ CNA's and meet with state, federal ,local ,Hospice and other home health and hospitails . To supplement there care. We do 1- 24 hr live-in care

Did someone here mentioned they wanted to set up an agency? My Boss teaches people how to set up there on care compaines.

I love my job I wouldn't change a thing.I am able to help people every day .

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Regarding how much we pay our LVN nurse 30 dolllar and assessment

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Hi all,

have been in Texas since 1980 and in Home Health since '84-'85ish.

Mostly Pediatrics and about 5 years of Crisis care for Hospice ( I love that but it is really hard to schedule and budget around a family as a single mom).

Pedi's gives longer term cases and a set team with everybody usually working the same days each week. I am normally with a family/ baby for about 1 and 1/2 years per case.

I am usually selective about "my babies" having to get better but this new case I just started may be the exception. 2 yr. old with CHARGE Syndrome ( I have never seen this diagnosis before) and we have no idea what her life expectancy is. New twist psycho-socially for me as well since it is my first family where both parents in the home are female.

Home health is not just a job, it's an adventure!!

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Hi

I have been a nurse since 1980 and have worked within homecare since 1990. I love home care. I prefer shift work instead of visits.

In NY we have the option of working as independent providers and billing NY Medicaid directly. This involves keeping your own records and hounding the state to pay you at least 6 weeks after you provide services!

I'm a pediatric vent nurse who worksfor an agency on two pediatric vent cases. I see the same two patients all week (2 days with a 3 y/o and 2 days with a 10 y/o). The agency pays me time and 1/2 for any hours over 40 (I work 44-46 hrs/wk) and holidays. I get paid the week after I work, and the agency covers a week's vacation time as well as a 401K.

Providing shift care in the patients' homes is great (if you can tolerate the slow pace). This is the first time in my nursing experience that I can actually provide the care I learned to provide in school.

My patient ratio (1:1) really beats 1:10 or 1:20 in the hospitals or nursing homes.

is the ratio really that high in Hospitals? That floors me, no pun intended. Really affirms my decision to keep on doing what I do too since it is the best way to give the care we learned, i agree with you. I would hate to put my license on the line every shift i work in a facility. i don't know how the other nurses do it.

As for visits all day? That seems a lot like home to me with 4 daughters. I don't want to go to work and be in the car all day since I do that with the girls. After a 15 hour night shift and 2.5 hours of driving tacked on I had to stay awake to take a daughter to the orthodontist (please mom, I know you just got off duty but I don't want to change appointment and have to go get adjusted during spring break!).

Whie waiting for her in my pajamas in the parking lot I thought, this is not a vehicle it is a prison with a steering wheel.

So, I do my routine 30 hours a week at night (3p to 6a) nad any extra hours are gravy.

With a vent patient and continuos GB feeds and round the clock nebs ordered it is not hard to stay active til at least 2 am and at that point I do force myself to put out lights, turn on music and rest until an alarm goes off or my releif shows up so I don't kill myself on the rush hour drive home. The family is great about bringing fresh pillows and blankets in to me before they turn in for the night and whatever new movies they have on DVD or Video.

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Specializes in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

Hi, I do home infusion. Almost exclusively Flolan, various clotting factors, and rarely IVIG. I drive about 60-70,000 miles per year. I'm thinking about b uying a GPS units. Anyone have suggestions?

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Hi there Home health nurse here... LPN been doing this for about a year now, and love it! Was in the field for about 6 months then took a position in the office as Intake Corrdinator... didn't like it went back to the feild.. and still here!!

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Specializes in Home Health.

Welcome to everyone who has posted since my last post, which was too long ago.

Good to see you all here. Post often.

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I was an LPN on a Med/Surg, Ortho, and then psych floor. It was a terrible enviornment for a new nurse! I didn't feel supported by the other staff or by my management. When I was doing psych I got my RN and decided to try SICU. For one reason or another none of these specialties worked for me.

After two years and 4 nursing specialties later (the beauty of having a nursing shortage - I can be picky) I decided that I would try HH as a last resort. If I didn't like HH nursing then I was going to go back to school and get my master's in anything but nursing.....

Well I have now been in HH for almost 2 years! I finally found my nitch (sp?). I absolutely love it. I am able to reach my patients on levels I never thought possible. I am actually an infusion nurse. I got my CRNI (Certified Registered Nurse of Infusion) this last fall and got my PICC/midline certification about a year ago. I help staff an ambulatory infusion clinic for home care, and have an absolute blast!! This has been the best job I have ever had and look forward to where this might take me in my career.

Gwen

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Specializes in ICU/CCU/MICU/SICU/CTICU.

Just wanted to say hi to all the new people that have joined in with us. I have noticed that some have came back to home care from the hospital.

As for me........ I have been doing this for so long it seems like 100 yrs. But I am to the point of burn out. The admissions that we have been getting lately are either sicker than crap or either ones that other home care agencies in our area wont take for one reason or the other. We have had one nurse helping out another branch, and one that has been off on FMLA. Needless to say we have had 3 nurses to cover 5 counties and 130+ patients. We are all salary, as the agency doesnt want us using PRN help at all. In the last month, I have worked at least 60 hrs/week, and drove close to 500-700 miles each week. We have been averaging 8 patients a day, which wouldnt be too bad if they were all in a general area, but when its an hr or more driving between each patient it makes for a very long day. I have asked to move to the weekend position only, but it doesnt look like it is going to work out. I have been fighting the flu since last Friday, and am tired....... so I apologize for the long vent.

Again, welcome to all who have joined us. Hope you enjoy the site!

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Hi, I joined this group specifically to discuss this problem. I've been an RN for ten years and five years of it has been in home care.

I have come to the conclusion that the "fee for service" nurses have the best deal, they can pick and choose what they want to take, as much or little. When I was FFS and I was swamped and they called me for a case, I would just say no thanks, I am swamped and that was the end of it.

Then I made the big mistake of going staff and I regret it. I have an opening every day, sometimes two, and if not two, then an opening, discharge, recert, and a couple of revisits. Its impossible to do it all in a ten hour day.

I am getting fed up and thinking about taking a shift in a hospital on weekends or per diem just to see if I can do it. Anyway, I just joined and this is the Howdy forum so Howdy and I'm going to see if I can find a thread with this topic. E-mail me if you want, I'm also over 50, and its getting tough.

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Hello everyone! I am a newbie here, and I am loving these message boards! I read the "typical day in the life of a HHC nurse" thread, and thought that someone was living my life in an alternate universe! Anyway, I was an LPN for 6 years, and have been an RN now for just under a year. I have been in home care now for almost 4 years, and I would not trade it for the world! Sure I'd trade a patient or two with a new hire who doesn't know better :lol2: :devil: However.... all in all this is the most rewarding thing that I have ever done, and I have found my "place" in the world! I specialize mainly in cardiac rehab, and I also love doing infusions! So nice to hear from my cohorts everywhere! What a neat place to laugh, vent and learn!

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Hi, I joined this group specifically to discuss this problem. I've been an RN for ten years and five years of it has been in home care.

I have come to the conclusion that the "fee for service" nurses have the best deal, they can pick and choose what they want to take, as much or little. When I was FFS and I was swamped and they called me for a case, I would just say no thanks, I am swamped and that was the end of it.

Then I made the big mistake of going staff and I regret it. I have an opening every day, sometimes two, and if not two, then an opening, discharge, recert, and a couple of revisits. Its impossible to do it all in a ten hour day.

I am getting fed up and thinking about taking a shift in a hospital on weekends or per diem just to see if I can do it. Anyway, I just joined and this is the Howdy forum so Howdy and I'm going to see if I can find a thread with this topic. E-mail me if you want, I'm also over 50, and its getting tough.

When I was out in the field, I worked both FFS and salaried and I liked what the company I worked for was doing a far as salaried employees were concerned. It seemed that when I was FFS, I had to case manage a lot more patients then when I was salaried. The company I worked for enforced a quota on the number of patients salaried staff were expected to see. Perhaps the company you work for is the problem and you should find another HHA. I just don't think I could ever go back to the hospital after experiencing home health unless I was a "corporate nurse" in that environment.

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