Are there other flexible positions for LPN's?

[raspysunny]

What flexible jobs are there for LPN's outside of the hospital and LTC? Is there any such thing as flexible hours at a doctor's office? Or in any other areas? What about overtime in areas outside of the hospital?

[caliotter3]

You can set your own hours when you work in home health.

[raspysunny]

caliotter3 what does home health entail? I was a home health aide in the 90's, is the position similar? Are those jobs available through agencies?

[mommyof2Tees]

At caliotter3 - how does one get started working in the HH Field?

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

home health or private duty nursing.

Some agencies require acute or LTC experience depending on the patient population. Others will train you on the basics (as some acute and LTC nurses may never encounter skills needed in the home environment such as trach/gtube changes, tube feeding, specialized wound care, portable vents, etc.)

Some clinics and MD offices still hire nurses but others use MA's and UAP's to reduce overhead expense cost, especially with declinig reimbursement.

[raspysunny]

Thanks JustBeach. I'm just trying to get a feel of all of what an LPN can do, and all the areas in which they can work.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

I have classmates that took jobs in hospice, pediatric private duty/home health (what I do), some are LTC, some are FQHC clinics, some are sub acute rehab, one is partial hospitalization psych, one works in a podiatry office that does in office procedures (the docs in this practice decided a few years ago that they wanted xray techs, LPN's and RNs with licenses as it was worth the expense), no one works in the hospital as an LPN though some of the hospitals are starting to hire LPNs again, someone works in a surgicenter on a plastic surgery team, another works in an opthomological surgicenter, a pediatric clinic.

Shift work home health is common with LPN's as is intermittent visit (though most agencies want 1-2 years experience for intermittent visit nurses).

Some have flexible schedules. HH Agency work is nice in that although you are technically per diem, you do have control over your availability.

[raspysunny]

JustBeachyNurse thanks for the insight! Besides my love for nursing is my love for art, and I'm trying to plan how to best contibute to both. Therefore I really need flexible hours.

[caliotter3]

You can get a private duty job by answering ads placed by private parties. Most people get home health jobs by signing up with home health agencies. There are two main types of field positions: intermittent visit type work and extended care cases, also known as shift work or continuous care. It is easier to start out with extended care. Intermittent visits require a different skill set and are the type of home care most nurses warn against starting out in when you aren't experienced. With extended care, you are dealing with stable patients who require routine care in the home. Often you can rely on family members for help in training you on specific ways to do things or for those situations that are not day to day. There are lots of threads and posts in the home health forum that give a more complete picture of home health, both visit work and extended care. The flexibility comes in when you tell your agency when you want to work and they accommodate your needs based on available case work.

[raspysunny]

Thanks caliotter3. I will surely look into the home health threads and also consider this type of position in the future.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

You can also check out the private duty nursing threads as that generally pertains to the extended care cases. Since you asked about options for LPN"s check out this allnurses article: https://allnurses.com/lpn-lvn-corner/lpns-what-do-743176.html

[raspysunny]

Awesome article. Thank you!