Agencies

I cannot help specifically with agencies in your area. I'm giving you a kind of 'generic' response.

It sounds like you're having difficulty finding agencies from your posting. I'm a staunch advocate of 'old fashioned' job searches that include a trip to the library and looking in a phone book. You cannot find everything online as you often don't know what search parameters to use to "google" a question.

Go find a phone book for your area and take a notepad with you and write down names/address/phone numbers of health agencies in your area. Of course, you first need to find how your yellow pages refer to them. Search 'healthcare', 'home health', that sort of thing until you find how they're classified.

You should have a pretty complete list after going through the book and then you can go back to your PC and find them, locate them, see if they have online sites or decide to call them and go in. In the Chicago area, a lot of small agencies have started because home health is such an expanding business. But, these small companies do not have money or expertise for websites. Same thing with smaller LTCs. There are some good nursing homes out there, albeit small, and you can't always find them on the web.

It's always difficult to find that first job, but if you search properly, then follow-up (by applying to as many places as you can find), you'll find something.

This is a personal bias. If you're new to the field, I would spend a year working in a hospital or LTC to gain the experience rather than going directly into home health where there is no one else around from whom you can learn techniques, gain ideas, etc. You'll be far more confident after working in an institution and gaining knowledge from others.