Accept New JOB??? Not sure....

[Solid Sweetie Coyote]

I have been a home IV infusion nurse for 2 years (a nurse for 28 years). I love it, and love my patients. Some are coming to the end of their treatment and will be ending their infusions.

I interviewed today for a new home health position with a company I used to work for (and really liked!) They offered me a job.

New job offers free health care, 401K contribution, hardly any driving as my territory is where I live. They also offer paid sick leave, holiday pay, vacation pay. The money is not bad, but I think I might make more where I'm at now. Also, I would be required to fill out the dreaded Oasis form for every new patient. I will have to do foley catheters and wound care, which I don't have lots of experience at, but company will train me.

Old job: I'm independent contractor, must buy my own medical and dental insurance, pay my taxes out of my pay, drive very far (sometimes 2 hours away), but ONLY do infusions and sometimes lab draws or picc dressing changes. I still have a few patients that I really like and that appreciate my IV skills.

I'm about 5 years from retirement, and I'm not sure if I should make this change.

Anybody have thoughts about changing jobs?

[adreamdeferred, MSN, RN, APRN, NP]

It depends on your goals and what you can tolerate. The OASIS charting is more than a notion and I bet you can do your current charting while your patients are infusing versus having to take it home. Is the insurance a factor? Are you able to get down on the floor in pet hair and God knows what else and turn into a contortionist to apply aquacel dressing to every opening bilaterally on a patient's legs that are the size of elephants due to edema and they are unable to offer any assistance lifting. Just wanted to paint an extreme scenario. For me, this became a problem for my back as I did not want to get on the floor which meant I was bending over for extended periods of time throwing my back into spasms. As much as I enjoy helping patients who are in difficult situations doing this long term is detrimental to my own health. These are the things you need to consider when making your decision. Home care is not easy. You do not have the tools available in an acute setting to complete patient care ie: a hospital bed to raise the patient up to your level to work or a co-worker to assist. It's a lot more physically demanding than being an infusion nurse. I loved my infusion visits. Are you concerned about your income decreasing? Just make sure you don't take the job because of that alone, you will be miserable. When do you have to decide?

[Daisy4RN]

IMO unless there is a significant monetary benefit I would stay where you are. If you like the current job and have low stress that is going to change with a typical HH position. I assume you will be full time with the benefits you describe so you can definitely count on charting on your own time. The OASIS is horrible but the other charting and responsibilities are also very time consuming as well. You will have pts, docs, office etc constantly calling you and will probably also need to be on-call at times. And as the above poster pointed out it can be very demanding physically. If the money is going to make a significant difference in your retirement it might be worth it, that would be the only thing that would make me do HH again. Good luck whatever you decide!