Attn HH Nurses: Has your agency raised your gasoline allowance?

[barefootlady, ADN, RN]

I know this is and has been a sore spot with some home health nurses in my area. One told me her agency had raised the allowance a nickle in the past year. Agencies are attempting to look at other measures to hold down costs too, like sending clients to ER more. So what is your story?

[barefootlady, ADN, RN]

No input. Wonderful. Glad the HH agency in your area is reimbursing you well.

[Noryn]

I have always thought that unless you have a compact car, it is difficult to come out ahead with using your vehicle. I hate to see people with 20,000 + dollar cars getting beat to death on our WV roads.

The big problem though is with rural clients, I worked home health in the past and those little compact cars just wont make it in some places and in the winter you really need a AWD or 4 wheel drive to make it up some mountains.

[barefootlady, ADN, RN]

Right you are, Noryn. The HH nurses around here are c/o that agency is making money, but not giving raises or raising gas allowance. Many nurses are just not working because of this. I just wanted some input from someone actually working in this field of nursing to tell us what is really going on.

[NurseLisaInWV]

I'm a hospice nurse. We use our own vehicles daily and are given the federal rate for mileage reimbursement. Right now, that's $0.505 cents per mile. When the federal rate goes up, our reimbursement rate goes up. I drive an Altima and it's costing me about $45 per fill up now. Gas in my area is $3.79 a galleon.

Alicia

[RN Randy]

Not naming names... but I have a next door neighbor that needs monthly infusion therapy. I went thru the hire process for the HH company caring for him so I could do his infusions. Well, I get called a lot from this company wanting this or that done, drsg changes and all sorts of HH type work in the area. I asked about mileage reimbursement to see if it was worthwhile to drive my 15mpg [approx. .30cents/mile] vehicle around doing that stuff... and the answer was a no-brainer. "We don't reimburse for mileage."

And the next obvious question was answered with "No, we do not supply a vehicle."

This is a national company and I just don't understand how they are getting a single person to do HH for them... ?? I guess most of their work is agency staffing.

Boggles the brain...

rb

[caliotter3]

My agencies have not paid mileage, even when they said they would (probably the same nationwide company that RN Randy mentions). My two current agencies don't even pay overtime or holiday pay, and I will soon find out that one does not pay show-up pay either. Anything to save money.

[barefootlady, ADN, RN]

For what I hear, HH is in dire straights in may places but here in WV, it is hard to find someone who will drive these roads, up hollows, and go into some of the more rural areas. I know these people need care, but the companies need to realize that the pay needs to be lots more if they want workers.