Any current "happy nurses" in HH?

Peggy35 · Dec 2, 2009

Basically love my job especially having one patient at a time. Hate the time consuming paperwork, phone calls while driving and patient load with patients at all ends of the county, but I still say a bad day in homecare beats 3 good ones in the hospital anytime.

HmarieD · Dec 2, 2009

I agree with Peggy35. I left a busy med-surg unit 10 years ago and never looked back. I worked as a field nurse for about 7 years, now in the office (several offices actually) as PI nurse. I love it all.

There are positives and negatives with every job. It seems that with HH, you either love it or hate it. Usually you know pretty quickly which way you're gonna go. A lot can depend on the agency and their policies, so if you feel like you could love HH but you aren't sure about loving the agency you're at, look around before you abandon HH altogether. Good luck - I hope you love it as much as I do!

caliotter3 · Dec 2, 2009

I would have to agree that the worst day in home health is better than the best day elsewhere. You aren't going to get better circumstances than those found when working with only one client at a time. I avoid most of the pitfalls by working extended care cases rather than intermittent visits. Almost every single problem I have ever encountered in home health has come from the behavior of the individuals that represented the agency or the clients themselves. The agency internal employees make encounters with their nurses more or less pleasant by their attitudes, forthrightness, and integrity. I do not care to be lied to or taken advantage of. On the other hand, I realize that I can expect poor treatment from family members, not so much patients, at times. If my agency reps back me up, fine. But most of the time this does not happen. Expected, customer is always right, even when they're wrong. But there are some instances when this does not apply and should not. Still, overall, I would not trade working in home health for another specialty at this time.

berube · Dec 3, 2009

wrong day to ask me that question---one recert, one ROC, one SOC and 4 regular visits!!!!!!!!!!! exhausted and tomorrow doesnt look any better!!! :cry:

chenoaspirit, ASN, RN · Dec 4, 2009

Berube! I havent talked to you in forever. I feel for ya. Im in the same boat. Im NOT one to ask if Im happy with homehealth. I finally have 4 days off to recup...back/neck/shoulder/arm pain due to stress. Im on a massive amount of steroids and low dose of valium. Im off today and the PRN nurse has called me 4 times already about the patients she is seeing for me. grrrrrrrrrrr

berube · Dec 4, 2009

Berube! I havent talked to you in forever. I feel for ya. Im in the same boat. Im NOT one to ask if Im happy with homehealth. I finally have 4 days off to recup...back/neck/shoulder/arm pain due to stress. Im on a massive amount of steroids and low dose of valium. Im off today and the PRN nurse has called me 4 times already about the patients she is seeing for me. grrrrrrrrrrr

gee, i hope you are feeling better!!! that is exactly what i am talking about,,when you are off you really arent off you are just not seeing patients, you get more phone calls and tho there are some good PRN nurses, i think the one you talked to today works for us too, because that happens all the time!!!

caliotter3 · Dec 5, 2009

I work night shift and received a message regarding the patient, instead of calling the responsible nurse. I returned the call promptly, but was told the supervisor would have to call me back. All of this disturbed my sleep for the day. It is now 9:15 at night and the supervisor never returned the call. There is supposed to be a time when we are off, like when we are off.

delvenia · Dec 5, 2009

I am a new grad and HH is pretty much all i know at this point, with the exception of my clinicals prior to becoming licensed. I can still see a huge difference in how it was at the hospitals and what i do. You are very independent in HH. The nurses who just want to go to work, get paid, and then go home seem to not last. I work for a hospital networks HH, so our patients are from our hospital up the street. some come from other referral sources, but the majority are from our hospital and our own networks Dr.'s so you actualkly have the ability the email the doctors and nurses, get your labs back like an hour after you drop them off to the hospital (all of our labs are considered STAT), and you have a slew of other resources right at your fingertips. I was very nervous in the beggining, but i now dont know that i could ever work in a hospital; at least not full time.

the nurses who come from the hospital appear to have a harder time adjusting that us two new grads (they recently started a new grad program). everyone is put into 12 weeks training, regardless of how much experiance you have. I just finished my 12 weeks and am now starting another 30 days of training to prepare me for the on-call portion. i couldnt have asked for a better work place or job

yes, you do seem to work all the time because people call you all day and night, but i usually just dont answer the phone once i am home. if i were at a hospital or Dr. office and someone called for me after i was gone for the day, they would have to leave a message. we also have a 24 hour answering service that people can call. you dont get many calls after 4:30pm though because most of the sources know that those are our business hours. the reward of getting to know and do so much for your patients and their families far surpasses the headache of the workload. at least it does for me...

tencat · Dec 5, 2009

I work hospice, which is pretty similar to HH in some ways, and I wouldn't go back to the hospital unless I had no other choice. I love being able to set my own patient visits, being autonomous, and not have to deal with the dramatic crappola that happens in an office/hospital setting. Too much paperwork, HATE on-call, and at times want to strangle family members and/or bosses, but in all I love it.