taking call

Specialties Home Health

Published

This is my first weekend being on call for homehealth. I had a patient call me over her s/p cath that had been leaking for 3 DAYS. Why do they wait until the weekend to call? I mean, come on. I told her that someone would be there first thing Monday morning to change it. She was just determined for me to go that day! So I went. My saturday was shot. I had to get ready, get dressed, and go change it. I dont understand what goes thru their minds. Oh, its saturday, I think I'll now call and interrupt someone's time off and have them come visit me. grrrrrrr. Now, I know thats part of it, but geez. My beeper has gone off constantly for the past 2 days. I hate being on call!

Passive aggressive. She could have called the office on any one of those three days but chose to wait until the weekend because she preferred to bother someone. She was not distressed by the cath being out because she put up with it for three days.

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Specializes in Home Health.
We are also a very small agency with a "new" director (she was a field nurse before w/the same agency) who just found out she has cancer. We typically take call once every three weeks from Friday evening until the next Friday morning and the director is backup for the LPN when she is on call. Lately with her being ill though we have been trying to help cover hers as well. We have another nurse who just started today that isn't looking very promising either.....

PT for us doesn't take call and they don't do admissions but we are told that is soon to change too....

I would rather do the paperwork than have to be on call all the freaking time!

I start home health on Monday. This is my first home health job. How is it being on call for a week at a time. Do you get called to go out more than not or can most calls wait or be handled on the phone? Thanks I would really like to know. And BTW does PT stand for Physical Therapy or what? :bugeyes:

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Specializes in COS-C, Risk Management.

I can say that so far, I've been fortunate enough to not have to go out once on any of my call weeks/weekends. I'm sure that will change now that I've put it in writing.

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I start home health on Monday. This is my first home health job. How is it being on call for a week at a time. Do you get called to go out more than not or can most calls wait or be handled on the phone? Thanks I would really like to know. And BTW does PT stand for Physical Therapy or what? :bugeyes:

PT is usually used to stand for physical therapy.

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Specializes in PICU, NICU, L&D, Public Health, Hospice.

If you are expected to be on call and available to patients you should be compensated for that time. The rate of compensation varies from region to region and from one employer to another, however, you should be receiving some hourly rate for simply being available to the agency and the patients. When you receive a call that compensation typically changes to your hourly rate while you are actually speaking to a patient, documenting your conversation, and any time you spend driving to and from and visiting the patient. If your employer is not compensating you for all on call hours you are being taken advantage of. The exception to this is the exempt salaried employee who has a call requirement with their job. Their call requirements are generally negotiated as part of the employment agreement and compensation package.

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Specializes in Home Health.

So what do you all think about being on call for seven days, no pay for having the beeper, no hourly pay for going out if needed- only get mileage pay, but you will get one day off with pay the next week after your call week to take the place of call pay? Does this sound decent? And it has been said that the nurses usually don't have to go out, but in some cases they might? I just want to know if I'm being taken advantage of. It is an hourly pay job with no extra money for OASIS and all that. 6-8 pts. per day supposedly.

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Specializes in COS-C, Risk Management.

I should've known better than to put it in writing. I'm not on call this weekend, but . . . . At 0730 I get a call from the service saying that the # for the on call nurse is disconnected, they can't reach the director (who was fired last week), the other RN is not answering her phone (on medical leave), so that leaves me. Looks like I'm on call anyway. :banghead:

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Make sure that you get all of the information before you start working and that it is really what you want to do. Please think it all through. If you have kids, will it disrupt your family life to take calls whenever your job or patients need you?

I was sick last week and could not take calls for a few days. Now they are looking for a new nurse that will be available 24/7. I guess this is all for the better. I can't do it. They told me when they hired me that I would be working 20-24 hrs per week, which I was doing but then I have to be available by phone for free the rest of the time. The new nurse will get a salary.

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Specializes in PICU, NICU, L&D, Public Health, Hospice.

On call is often overlooked when we are seeking new employement, however, it can be an enormous burden...especially over time. Hourly nurses need to be compensated on an hourly basis to carry a beeper.

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