What bag/attire/organization???

Specialties Home Health

Published

Just wondering if any of you want to share what you wear to pt homes.... Scrubs?Casual clothing? Do you have a bag that you carry and love, or do you take the same bag in every home. I see some nice home health nurse bags on the Hopkins Medical Supplies sight. And how do you organize your car.... Any tips or tricks? Thanks in advance for your replies.

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Scrubs

Haven't found a good bag yet but I've heard diaper bags work well.

I bought a plastic cabinet with 3 draws and a cleaning caddy and keep in my trunk.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Pediatrics, Vents, Trachs.

I wear scrubs although the families I've worked with say it doesn't matter if I want to wear 'street' clothes. I personally prefer scrubs seeing how I have to deal with bodily fluids just makes more since, I guess. If you are dealing with a client & you have more of a companion role, meaning the client can toilet themselves, then I would wear regular clothes. As far as bag, I just use a beach bag I got from Walmart for about 12 bucks & one of those clipboards where you can put papers in. It's very convenient. Hope this helps!

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Thanks for the responses. I asked because the nurses at my home health wear casual clothing, I agree, seems like scrubs would fit better in most situations. I have heard of the diaper bag idea..... I'll be on the look out for something, I'm sure over time I will figure it out. Do you all drive your own cars or a company car?

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Specializes in pediatric.

I wear scrub bottoms and a nice tee shirt. I use a book bag for my stuff. What to wear seems to be determined by the family (sometimes they don't want the nurse to look "medical," and will request street clothes). I've heard of people keeping a lab coat or something in their car in case they have to go to a doctor's appointment or meet with a medical provider and want to look professional.

I use my car to transport my patient. I had to get additional insurance, which the company reimbursed me.

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I prefer to bring a very basic bag whenever I can, but these days we have to bring everything but the kitchen sink.....(one website suggests bringing a basin to wash your hands when @ dirty homes.)

EZ View Med Bag | Hopkins Medical Products

I love the clear dividers of this bag ^^ (but thats all I like about it). It would be awesome to have something with just the clear dividers to use as a supply organizer for the trunk. I can't stress just how much I love these things....(sturdy vinyl and not cheap plastic).

Speaking of see through things, I wouldn't mind an entire bag made out of the clear vinyl, because nomatter how hard I try to put things where they belong, I frequently find myself upside down digging through my bag for something).

I've considered using a tackle box, or large sewing box. easy to organize and visualize everything.

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Specializes in Home Health.

I find that on this group, there are a lot of home health nurses that are more like private duty nurses and they are in one home all day long. The type of home health nursing I do is going from home to home to see patients all day. I wear scrubs every day as do they rest of the nurses there. Our bags have to have certain things like a "clean" and "dirty" section. This is a requirement. I had a really nice bag from Hopkins medical that I had my name embroidered on and paid $40-50 for. It is a really nice bag however, I have found a better alternative. I customized a fishing stool for my work bag. We have regulations about where our bag can be placed in the home. I take a folding fishing stool that has a bag under the seat and a strap to carry it. In the bag under the seat, I put my "dirty" stuff (thermometer, pulse oximeter, bp cuff, and stethoscope). I have customized it so that I have a place to store my gloves, my hand sanitizer, and my alcohol swabs to clean my equipment.

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Specializes in ICU, previously Dialysis.

Yes I agree. HH is not PDN. While comments are appreciated, it is misleading when posters are referring to PDN situations for nurses who are inquiring about HH issues. There are two separate forums.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

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WOW cool idea, fishing stool, I am going to look into it. In many of the homes I visit there is no good place to sit down or it is filthy. Thanks for this idea!

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I work in home health, not private duty. I see several patients in a day. Our agency requires us to carry various things and have a clean and dirty side. I don't have a favorite bag yet, though I do have one from Hopkins (I think). It's the best I've found so far but leaves a lot to be desired, mostly because by itself it weighs quite a bit. In my trunk I have a 3 drawer organizer to keep all the extra stuff. Into the home I carry this nursing bag, and we are required to put down a paper barrier, not set the bag down unless it has a barrier under it. I have looked at some diaper bags but they seem pretty flimsy and I don't care for the cutesy design fabrics either, though some "dad" type diaper bags looked ok. Sigh. Let me know if you find the most excellent nursing bag ever!

Oh yeah, scrubs definitely, especially for wound care patients and also because people's homes are not that clean sometimes. Also, I don't want to associate my regular clothes with nursing. When I take off the scrubs it sets a limit for me. Work is over with for now.

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Our agency gave us bags like this only blue and with 2 outer pockets that hold hand sanitizer, etc.: http://www.protherapysupplies.com/Shop-by-Brand/Medline-Nursing-Supplies-Patient-Care/Medline-Nurse-Bag-Black?gclid=COnsmIC56roCFdJZ7AodNE8A5g&source=googleps

I like it, it's working well so far. As far as attire, as I am new to home care so I had to buy enough clothes to get through a full week's visits (came from a hospital so I only had 4 pairs of scrubs). I opted to buy a lot of black scrub pants and multicolored scrub tops because hoenstly that was what I found on sale at the scrub store. Until I make 6 months at the agency and get a company car I have to use my full size pickup truck so I have plastic storage bins with supplies that I throw on the back seat. They are clear so I can see what's in them and they can quickly come out on the weekends.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.
Just wondering if any of you want to share what you wear to pt homes.... Scrubs?Casual clothing?

I wear business casual clothing. Any pants or skirts must have a lot of pockets.

Do you have a bag that you carry and love, or do you take the same bag in every home. I see some nice home health nurse bags on the Hopkins Medical Supplies sight.

I use a regular backpack.

And how do you organize your car.... Any tips or tricks? Thanks in advance for your replies.

I drive a wagon. I keep supplies are in boxes in my trunk.

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