I've been working in acute care for about a year and a half, 6 months of that being med/surg, 1 year being telemetry/step-down. I told myself I would stick my current job out at least 2 years to gain a litte more experience and better qualify me for something else in the future, but I've been feeling so burnt out and on-edge (for a while now) that all I can think of is getting out now. I keep teetering on the thought of home health, although I don't know if that's consistent with my long-term goals in nursing(I'm currently ASN, planning on taking classes for BSN soon).
I don't know how much longer I can take the never-ending stress of the hospital, especially in my current unit. I get palpitations from the moment I step onto the floor until the moment I leave. I've been looking for openings within the hospital and outside of the hospital in lower-stress environments to no avail. I realize home health has it's issues too (don't all jobs?), but from what I hear, "the worst day in home health is still better than the best day on the floor".
Any advice/suggestions/stories/experiences would be greatly appreciated!!!
Specializes in geriatric, pediatric trach/vent, LTAC.
I'm an ADN currently working in home care and I love it. I work with pediatric trach & vent patients. Before doing this, I worked in a LTC as an LPN for 2 1/2 years. I've been applying to hospitals for months with no success.
I stepped into home care and was surprised to find out how much I enjoy it. Contrary to what you're told when your patients are discharged to home, they're rarely stable. I have had a baby who would desat due to a dirty diaper. More than once I've been bagging with one hand and changing a diaper with the other. A child that seems to be doing well and then suddenly has a series of strange symptoms pop up and you're the one who has to put that puzzle together. I work with one patient for an entire shift, and when things go bad and you're on your own, it will definitely put your skills to the test. But I've also learned to trust myself and in my decision-making abilities.
And the other big plus is the love that you get back from the patients. The babies still love to be picked up and played with, the older kids like to rough-house, and a child who rarely responds and is nonverbal gave me the biggest ear-to-ear grin when I picked her up last week. You can't put a price tag on those benefits, though speaking of price tag, home health is paying considerably better than what I made in LTC.
I still hope to be able to move into acute care and be able to learn a new set of skills, but for now, I love my job and enjoy going to work again.
Yeah, I hated HH also. It was all I could get after graduation. I worked with peds patients and it was all about what the family wanted me to do, as opposed to evidence-based nursing care. The older nurses who had been in it for awhile weren't the most educated either so it was very hard to learn anything from them. I could tell you stories about the explanations I've heard for various issues/conditions and man would you just roar with laughter! Sometimes I felt that between the patients' (I had 7 in one year- I filled in for sick nurses and had 2 regular patients) parents and the nurses, I was in some other world! I left for LTC and was sooooo happy. Yes, I LOVED LTC in comparison to HH. Now I'm starting on a med unit. Good luck. Nursing is just hard work.
I left acute care after several years to explore the world of home health and I have done home infusion and home care case mgnt for the past four years. This is without a doubt the most stressful, time consuming, life eating job I have ever had. My phone rings all day all evening and all weekend I work all day all the time. The paperwork is a sea of never ending misery. My worst day at the hospital was never as bad as my worst day in home care. I am going back to the hospital next month to work med surg and I can not wait. Home health is very difficult and you must be completely dedicated everyday, have meticulous charting skills, and be willing to answer your phone day or night. I will not say what agency I work for but it is one of the top best known in my area. So really really think before you go to home care maybe a day surgery center or physician office would be better alternative. Best wishes on your journey!
I can tell you from a personal perspective that my home nurses mean so much to me. I'm a senior in nursing school, but I am TPN dependent and have other health issues necessitating home nursing. I look forward to my nurse coming, she makes my life easier, and I know I can reach out to her if I have a problem. I can't speak to working in a hospital (other than what I've done in clinical), verses what it is like working as a home nurse, I just wanted to put in my two sense and let you know from a pt perspective, how wonderful and valuable home nurses are in my life as well as the lives of my friends on TPN. Good luck with your decision.
Personally, I love home health. I am an LPN so I have a less paper work to do than the RN's, but I think I would still prefer it over acute care once I'm an RN. I have a hard time dealing with the stress of multiple patients who all need a lot of care at once. I get to travel all over my city and see places I would've never seen, but my territory is all within about 10 miles. I get to meet many interesting people and see them in their own environment. I get to do teaching and give one on one care where I actually feel like I'm helping someone. I get to see people improve the condition of their chronic illnesses because of interventions we implement. I work Monday-Friday 0800-1630. I work two holidays a year. I get paid $0.51 a mile which pays for gas and then some. I get to collaborate with a team and learn leadership. I clock in at 0800 and get on my computer to make my schedule for the day, call patients and do chart review. I have a max of 6 patients a day which rarely happens. I'm usually home before 1630. I finish my charting, send emails and make phone calls. I have worked in Assisted Living and SNF's and neither of them where anywhere near as great as this job is. I'm part of a union and just got a surprise "lump sum" payment of $500 for no reason that I'm aware of.Love it, love it, love it. It sounds like the work load really depends on the company you work for. There are times when the RN's are overloaded with admits, but later on it levels off. Go where your heart is. Pick the field that you think will make you the happiest. If it doesn't, change again until you find the right one.
thank you everyone for your input! i certainly have a lot to think about before i make any quick decisions. you can bet i'll be updating with any changes in the future. thanks again and happy nursing to all!
I do HH, and i love love love it, the homecare agency i work for is awesome, i do home care for kids, i love the one-on one care, i go to the patients home and stay for a 8 hr shift or how ever long the schedule calls for, sometimes 12 hr shifts, chart every 2hrs, brief paragraphs and do whatever the patients care plan calls for, give meds and treatments, etc. i would never go back to a hospital or doctors office setting again, less stress and you dont have to deal with all the drama from staff at other facilities, you have to try it and decide for yourself, i've done both and wouldn't trade it for the world, just my opinion.
Also just graduated (in AZ) and hospitals here treat new graduates like plague carrying, active TB pt, pond scum, so I went into home health.... No correct that, Home Visits...
I quickly found out that there is a HUGE difference between "home health" and "home visits". I hated home health; I went to pts houses and basically babysat for 8-10 hours per day. With home visits, you are in, out and document OASIS on the computer.
You are very autonomous, no doctors, co-workers, pharmacists: I go in to treat a stasis ulcer and find a huge stage IV pressure ulcer on a sacrum that no one had noticed, I get to see senior abuse and can call in social services to help, I get to know my pts. I am the social services link.
Apparently being disgusting pond scum, I havent had the "opportunity" to experience a hospital environment, but during my clinicals it was a lot of paperwork, stress, ever increasing ratios and acuities, pressure to maintain or acquire Magnet status, cost cutting strategies, politics and back biting. Grads leave the hospitals now because they say that the ratios are so high, there is no one to train them. So I can’t really weigh in on both sides, just be aware of the difference between home health and home visits.
escpthemadnss
18 Posts
I'm an ADN currently working in home care and I love it. I work with pediatric trach & vent patients. Before doing this, I worked in a LTC as an LPN for 2 1/2 years. I've been applying to hospitals for months with no success.
I stepped into home care and was surprised to find out how much I enjoy it. Contrary to what you're told when your patients are discharged to home, they're rarely stable. I have had a baby who would desat due to a dirty diaper. More than once I've been bagging with one hand and changing a diaper with the other. A child that seems to be doing well and then suddenly has a series of strange symptoms pop up and you're the one who has to put that puzzle together. I work with one patient for an entire shift, and when things go bad and you're on your own, it will definitely put your skills to the test. But I've also learned to trust myself and in my decision-making abilities.
And the other big plus is the love that you get back from the patients. The babies still love to be picked up and played with, the older kids like to rough-house, and a child who rarely responds and is nonverbal gave me the biggest ear-to-ear grin when I picked her up last week. You can't put a price tag on those benefits, though speaking of price tag, home health is paying considerably better than what I made in LTC.
I still hope to be able to move into acute care and be able to learn a new set of skills, but for now, I love my job and enjoy going to work again.
Jackie