Is home care the better route in nursing?

[Paleobug]

Hi, I'm starting nursing school in the fall. After I work in a hospital for a couple of years, I was thinking about going into home care. It seems to have a lot of benefits such as more independence, better schedule flexibility, no one breathing over your shoulder and better pay than in the hospitals.

Is this true, and what is the downside? :)

[Traveler]

I wish you luck in your education. I would certainly recommend at least several years in the hospital before home health. You're really on your own and need to have a good broad base of experience. Home health is not for everyone. You really need to try it to know. I thought I would love hospice but I found that I didn't after I tried it. Home health is probably the most autonomous you will get in nursing. The flexibility, the interaction with the patients and the freedom is wonderful. You can also give the care (mostly) that you want to give- not like that in the hospitals in my opinion. The downside is that you have no backup, the paperwork is horrendous and the job can be very very stressful. Be prepared for your car to look like a wreck since you practically live in it. Also be prepared to put many miles on your car. In lots of cases the pay is not up to par. I really enjoy home health myself.

[luckyladyore]

I just started agency HH and I really dont like it like I thought I would the people that live with the patient can really be nerve racking b/c they have a certain way that they take care of the parent or whom ever and then they may constantly remind you of there way as if you havent been taught Im going back to working in the schools until I finish school I dont like everybody different rules that every one has!!!!! oh my gosh its nothing like I expected I dont know how it is for the nurses but I know they have to go there just like us!

Good Luck 2 each is own

[hoolahan, ASN, RN]

luckyladyore, are you doing private duty HH? That is a huge difference from visting nurse, but both are HH.

Paleobug, please read the Day in the Life of a HH nurse thread in this forum. You will get a better sense of the flow.

As for two of the myths you presented.

1. The pay is always less than the hospitals in every case I know of.

2.People DO breath down your neck, indeed! It is possible to be aggravated by phone and e-mail!! I went per diem after I kept getting harrassed to d/c long-term clients, some of whom we were doing med prefills for six years!! Now suddenly, I am supposed to find a CG to teach. Uh, why didn't we do that 6 years ago?? I refused, because it seemed arbitrary how they were picking and choosing clients to do this to.

Yes, there is incredible autonomy and freedom, but it isn't w/o it's stress, just like any other nursing job.

The downsides?

Roaches, Roaches, and Roaches (My personal fave), hot as hades in summer, driving in snow, gas prices, and of course the horrendous paperwork. You must be extremely efficient and organized. Scary places and dangerous hoods.

But, all that aside, it is still the nest nursing specialty that I have ever worked in.

I do think it is best to have some experience in the hospital first, a year in med-surg is best, but it is tough out there. It is possible to be a new grad and do HH, but you won't have had enough expereince to tune into your gut instincts yet, and since yu are alone out there, that is important. Of course another nurse or supervisor is simply a phone call away.

Don't think I am discouraging you, not at all, but I just don't want you to go into it and discover it isn't all a bed of roses. But it saved me from leaving nursing after I got burned out from hospital nursing for 17 years, and I enjoyed it. I still work an occas. weekend, but now I work in the quality dept of a managed care company. No roaches. :)

[inna]

You just have to choose the lesser evil.... the aggravating stress in an understaffed Med/Surg floor but when your shift is done, you're done. Homecare Nursing is interesting, you see how people live, you take care of them until they fully recover. But your 8hr duty becomes really 16 because of that paperworks. You'll end up working overnight and even on your 2 precious weekend off. At the start you feel that paperworks has been the focus of your life. You can't even read magazines or watch the TV...'though you're working at home with your family. IT'S JUST A MATTER OF PERSONAL CHOICE WHICHEVER WE COULD TOLERATE.

[renerian, BSN, RN]

Alot of people think home health is easy. Yes there are tight timelines for paperwork, driving all over the city, surveyors during survey can go with you on visits, a ton of regs, family dysfuntion, wear and tear on your car and long hours. Many people actually take cuts in pay taking on home health.

It is very rewarding though.

renerian