Loving HH!!!

[running_nurse]

Since most of my friends from college not nurses or are currently not practicing b/c they are raising families...I just wanted to say I freaking loooooooove my HH job!!

Since my tiresome nightshifts in PICU and neverending Evenings in PACU I can't imagine doing anything else right now! Does anyone else feel this way?

Sure, I worry I might lose my critical care skills BUT I will not lose my sanity.....which I think is far more important.

I am a clinical supervisor. I need to supervise/recert cases, so basically a handful of pediatric patients a day then to the office for paperwork. My life is sooo much better.

And yes, I have run into problems. People (HHAs,LPNs, some difficult parents) for some reason don't want to do their recerts. Why? I don't know. If they don't comply they don't get service again until we do recert them. So I tell them so.

I've had a day start out....and have all of my visits for the day except for one totally change on me....

I've had to stand out in a snow storm wondering where in the world the patient/family are...

I still have the bruise on my leg from when a dog attacked me last week....

But still....even on the day of the dog bite...I am way less stressed than I ever was on any given day in the hospital...

I love this!

[imanedrn]

I currently work in med/tele and think I'm losing my sanity on some days. I have a PT HH job coming up in a month or so. I am sooo looking forward to doing it 1 day/wk to break up the insanity at the hospital. I also have the future prospect or working FT there.

Thanks for all the positive thoughts

[running_nurse]

That's excellent! I did start out part-time and now am full-time. It was nice that I had the luxury to be part-time and basically "try it out." It does take some self-discipline (I MUST go to the office this morning to do my paperwork....haha). My boss does not micro-manage. As long as your work is done, she doesn't care, which is excellent. See how you like it.

I will say that after being in the fast-paced hospital setting for 4 years I really had NO clue what I was getting myself into...but I knew I needed to get out of there....

And I never even saw myself as a HH nurse....but now....wow, I still am working and busy, but a different kind of busy/responsibility.

On that note, I hope the part-time position goes well for you and if it's a good fit, you can make your move into the wonderful (sometimes crazy) world of home health!:nuke:

[caliotter3]

Glad to hear that you are enjoying hh. It's like almost heaven since I've been in this field. Just so much more gratifying to work for only one patient at a time. Sometimes I can make a difference, and I really like being in control of my schedule. Hope that you continue to enjoy working in hh.

[imanedrn]

That's excellent! I did start out part-time and now am full-time. It was nice that I had the luxury to be part-time and basically "try it out." It does take some self-discipline (I MUST go to the office this morning to do my paperwork....haha). My boss does not micro-manage. As long as your work is done, she doesn't care, which is excellent. See how you like it.

I will say that after being in the fast-paced hospital setting for 4 years I really had NO clue what I was getting myself into...but I knew I needed to get out of there....

And I never even saw myself as a HH nurse....but now....wow, I still am working and busy, but a different kind of busy/responsibility.

On that note, I hope the part-time position goes well for you and if it's a good fit, you can make your move into the wonderful (sometimes crazy) world of home health!:nuke:

I NEVER imagined I'd be interested in home heath either. I only got set up with this company by the referral of a very good friend who knows what an idealist I am. I met her while working in telecom for a while, before I returned to school for pre-med (before I decided on nursing school!). In any case, she knows how passionate I am about what I do. I told her how med/surg seemed to be sucking the life and passion out of me. She said that just won't do! She has a friend who works in HH who has a friend who's the new DON at this HH that's restructuring. So she gave me the reference...

When I called, I was amazed at how we hit it off. First, I told her I thought HH didn't hire new grads. She said it all depends. Later, she told me that she actually liked the idea of being able to train a new grad to their standards -- AND with the prospect of me working for them FT!

During our initial conversation, I told her how disillusioned I felt in med/surg. I felt like all the miscellaneous "stuff" was preventing me from providing actual "care" to my patients. She said she'd felt the same way, and that's exactly how she ended up in home health. I told her I wished I had more time to spend talking to, "caring" for, and educating my patients. She said that's the goal of home health, and my eyes just lit up!

I'm finally going to meet with her again next week. She's going to go over the Oasis paperwork with me in detail and get me paired up with an RN who will be mentoring me. Once that's up, she said I could choose my visits during the week and see how things go.

I love knowing that I have this stable job at a hospital that is a great learning experience but also have the prospect of being the type of nurse I've always wanted to be. It's so fantastic that I've been opened up to an area I'd have never thought to explore on my own!