Any advise with my new home care agency?

Published

i am starting a home care agency in new york state in my home office.. i started form the sratch almost 2 years ago. i have been approved and i'm getting ready for a pre-opening survey. i'm very frustrated right now because i don't know what to do. the bad news is, i am a second year nursing student and i

have 2 more years to go. because i need to hire a nure but of i am having a hard time finding a nurse and the state requires me to hire a nure before they come out to do the pre-opening inspection. i work in the hospital and none of the nurses are interested. the bottom line is i don't know what the heck i'm going at this point, i didn't think the application was going to be this much harder.my plan for going into this was to have like a small homecare business on the side whiles i go to school and work part time, neither did i know that it was going to be this huge thing. i mean i have done most of the hard part at the point but i feel like i cn't take it any more and i am on the verge to break down, although i hate to see the hard work i've put into this for the last 2 years go down the hill.

does anybody has any advise? i really can use it.

people had suggested that, i get a nurse as a partner but i don't even know where to get the partner. does any body knows how much you charge clients for service, rns and the aides, i have an i dea but i would also like to know what's out there. any idea on where and how i can get someone to help me set everything up.:bluecry1::banghead:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

You need to take some time to rest and recuperate. You don't want to quit before you get started. One thing you need to do, judging from reading your post, is to learn how to cut down on your stress and put things into perspective. Running yourself into the ground will only destroy your health and your enjoyment of your work. You might want to run an ad in the paper, put up flyers on the bulletin boards at local HR departments, or go through your employment office to find a nurse to hire. As far as figuring out what to charge or what to pay your employees, you might want to call an agency and pose a question or two. You can pretend to be a propective client or a prospective employee without identifying yourself. One of the agencies that I worked for in the past had a handout for prospective clients that listed their hourly rates. I picked one up one day out of curiosity. It was very straightforward. Perhaps you could enlist the aid of a friend or relative to call with these questions. For general business help, there are agencies out there that assist people with their new businesses. I would do some research on these. They can offer you free or low cost advice on your business plan, start up activities, etc. Good luck.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

An afterthought: As far as what to charge customers, a good rule of thumb is roughly twice the hourly rate of the employee you are going to send to the home. If you intend to pay a home health aide , say, $10 an hour, then you can expect to charge the private pay customer $20 an hour for these services. One agency charged one of my clients $204 for each 8 hour shift for an LPN. They paid the LPN $16 or $17 an hour. Not quite double, but in the ballpark. Hope you can get an RN to help you get started with your venture.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Caliotter 3,

I thank you so much for your advise, it is well taken. After reading your post i felt a sense of relief and hope and i think i can do this.Thanks again.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in critical care-stepdown, homecare, infusi.

:banghead: This is never good!!!

I agree with decreasing your stress level- more like bringing it under subjection. Looking ahead if you get this stressed before actually getting started how will you be able to handle the business ups and down- because there will be some.

Regarding finding a nurse, ask your professor from "comminuty health nursing", seek nurses who are already working in homecare-maybe they wouldn't mind a parttime job or "agency" (higher paying) job.

Never rush!! Or feel rushed!!! Maybe this isn't the time. Everything has it's time and it's season. So don't be afraid of set backs- there maybe more of them to come. I do encourage you to stay patient, longsuffering, determined, committed, and focused on your desires.:)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Craigslist, man your ultimate hiring resource!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment