Is home health that bad?

Specialties Home Health

Updated:   Published

I have been interested in home health nurse since starting nursing school. I liked the idea of the freedom of the job and the flexibility that goes with it. You can also travel doing home health. From what I have read, charting takes forever and you are usually not paid to do it?!? You have to put a lot of miles on your car. There is usually not much orientation. Pay rates are pretty low. etc.

Are there any good companies out there? Does anyone love their job? I don't want to make a big mistake by leaving a hard to come by hospital job and end up hating home health.

I've been in HH for 7 years I would never look back . Hospitals are overrated . Nurses or overworked and underplayed . The hype of working in a hospital slowly vanished out of my system when I saw my sisters did not have a life and I was getting payed twice as more . I have a life , I leave home when I want come back home when I want as long as i cover 5-6 patients a day . Our agency is not CHHA so yea no wounds , PICC lines , none of that only HH head to assessment and paperwork . I would never go to a hospital , period

2 Votes
Specializes in Home Health.

Just wondering how you made out? You could always try HH part time or per Diem & see how it goes. All the best!

1 Votes
Specializes in Oncology, Palliative care.

I feel like I am a lucky one.........I worked in the hospital setting for 8 years, Med/Surg, Oncology, Cardiac/Neuro, Case Management. I started in home health last year and I agree that the first year is tough.......and you feel like you are working all the time but the key I found was in setting boundaries....and sometimes that can be very unpopular.

I work in California for a large hospital system, I make $120K+, max mileage, about 20-40 miles per day. I am a specialized home health nurse working with advanced illness patients (special population and focused on palliative care and helping people transition to hospice)......I'm also cross trained as an infusion nurse. I see 4 patients per day if they are standard revisits or 2 SOC. I am generally in the homes for an hour each and another hour charting after, although I have paired that down. So after a year, I rarely, I mean rarely work over 8 hours, sometimes less and I have a very nice doable schedule............my orientation was 3 months long and very thorough. I think the key to success is the organization you work for and their priorities, I actually left this organization for a few months for more money but came back (actually they asked me back, and offered me a bonus plus better pay to come back)....because they support their staff so well.

2 Votes

I am 25 years old, I have been a nurse for two years in the ICU. 6 months into nursing I decided to pick up a part-time job for some extra cash and I was drawn to the flexibility of home health nursing. I have been doing it now for a year and a half and I have grown to LOVE IT. I truly love getting to see patients in a different environment. Working in the ICU I deal with very sick critical patients, but it has helped me grow as a nurse to be able to see what patients are dealing with once they leave the hospital and get home.

If you have any interest in home health nursing, I would absolutely recommend you go for it! I have not regretted it at all!

2 Votes
Specializes in Home Health, Oncology, Geriatrics.

I took a HH job last November and was so terrified to make the transition out of acute care. But let me tell you, it was the best career decision I've ever made! I love it so much. No other area of nursing offers the same freedom, flexibility, and ability to set your own pace. My stress levels are nearly non-existent. I'm also making much more money per hour than I used to since I can work at a fast pace (most of the time) and get paid a high flat rate per visit. I wouldn't say that the charting is all that bad. I think it's worse in a hospital personally. Yeah, the oasis documents take a while but you get used to them and they end up taking significantly less time in the long run. There are some downsides to home health... safety is a potential issue and most of the houses are not clean. I hate that I smell like tobacco at the end of a day and once I found a bed-bug on my scrubs (Yikes!). But those things are a small price to pay for the benefits in my opinion. God bless, OP.

3 Votes
Denali_25 said:
I took a HH job last November and was so terrified to make the transition out of acute care. But let me tell you, it was the best career decision I've ever made! I love it so much. No other area of nursing offers the same freedom, flexibility, and ability to set your own pace. My stress levels are nearly non-existent. I'm also making much more money per hour than I used to since I can work at a fast pace (most of the time) and get paid a high flat rate per visit. I wouldn't say that the charting is all that bad. I think it's worse in a hospital personally. Yeah, the oasis documents take a while but you get used to them and they end up taking significantly less time in the long run. There are some downsides to home health... safety is a potential issue and most of the houses are not clean. I hate that I smell like tobacco at the end of a day and once I found a bed-bug on my scrubs (Yikes!). But those things are a small price to pay for the benefits in my opinion. God bless, OP.

right? I have found my niche as well.. I LOVE my job and do have plans to continue my education, get my NP and continue with home health to work my rural territory. There is such a need and many of these patients cannot get the care they need due to their remote locations. Would be an awesome service.. the absolute #1 for me is the one on one. You really develop a relationship with your patients and its something a nurse just doesnt get to do in any other setting. and yes, there stress level is very low.. granted, you do get some higher stress situations.. at least working with my company, but that is only about 1-2/10 and once that is dealt with, the stress is gone again. LOVE HOME HEALTH.

2 Votes

Hi ChocolateRN-

Thank you for your post, you said everything I have been feeling!

I was wondering did you do acute care before going into HH?

I am a second career nurse graduating in the next few months and I am really drawn to home health or hospice. I left my stressful corporate job because I wanted to find something where I felt like I was actually helping people and also where I would be better able to balance work and family (since I want to have kids in the next couple of years).

I've done well in my clinicals and my med surg clinical instructor is strongly encouraging me to do med surg or ICU, however my experiences in Med Surg have left me wanting more meaningful patient interaction. I like the 1:1 at a time ratio of HH, documentation doesn't phase me, and difficult or scary families or patients don't really phase me either. In your experience, do you think it would be ok to do as a new grad?

Thanks!

1 Votes

Yup, it's all about working for the right agency too. I always tell nurses in orientation- give it at least 6 months before you decide if you like it or not and 2 years before you know enough to feel confident.

2 Votes

The documentation in home health is what drives many people away. Learn to use your time effectively- schedule enough time in between appointments to finish up as much as you can, don't push it off until you've cooked dinner and helped the kids to bed. If I see 4 revisits and 1 admit in a day it is rare that I work more than 8 hours, often times it is less than that because i maximize my time.

2 Votes

@denali_25, can you give more info about your pay structure. I heard from someone who does home health for my hospital that she makes hourly, plus $100-$250 per visit, plus mileage reimbursement. I've been looking into it here and on Reddit, but until I read your post, combination pay seemed to be an anomaly. Any insight?

1 Votes

Home Health!!! You either love it or you hate it!! I became a nurse to help people, all people all the time! That is truly what home health nursing is about, it is a 24/7 job. Many of the patient's do not have families or caregivers and depend on you as the nurse to lead them in the right direction. You have to be secure in your assessment skills, be able to think on your feet and know that it is ok to say no. Not every house is a Mansion. However it is the most rewarding nursing job I've had!!

1 Votes

Since the New Oasis C2 came out its been a nightmare charting. I also live in MASS which is a ACO and I want a new job. I am triple documenting now. I have to see 6 patients a day and I work easily 9-10 hours a day and that is no admit, d/c or Recerts. find a job that ends and you clock out and go home. Homecare used to be flexible but not anymore so not worth it to me

2 Votes
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