Can't we be self-employed???

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

This may be a strange question. I am currently in LTC, which i have been for 19 years now, mostly as a CNA but have been an LPN for a little over a year. I want out!! I want something different and would love to try home care. My question is, do you have to go with an agency or can you go out on your own and advertise that you are an LPN seeking to do in home care?? Maybe people feel more comfortable going through a reputable agency, just wondering if I should even consider this as a possibility or not. Thanks.

Go through an agency. Way too much liability if you try it yourself, with all the laws and whatnot.

Start with an agency. Get to know the home care business with an agency bringing in all the work to you.

Until you really know the business, the market for your skills and how much work you will need to do to turn a profit, make the change to an agency. You can always try to go it alone later.

I've been self-employed in nursing -- part-time from 1980-1982 and full-time since 1982. The dangers of self-employment are more in our minds. Self-employment can have problems, but so can being employed.

If you haven't done home care, go through an agency first, to get a feel for the situation, and whether you'd like the specialty or not. But keep thinking, keep imagining yourself as a self-employed nurse. You can make it. I guarantee that.

This may be a strange question. I am currently in LTC, which i have been for 19 years now, mostly as a CNA but have been an LPN for a little over a year. I want out!! I want something different and would love to try home care. My question is, do you have to go with an agency or can you go out on your own and advertise that you are an LPN seeking to do in home care?? Maybe people feel more comfortable going through a reputable agency, just wondering if I should even consider this as a possibility or not. Thanks.
Hello, I worked LTC, for over 20yrs., I can identify, with wanting out! I have looked into independent contracting. As far as my state (IND.) the concerns were registering, your company name, and a state ID number. If you just use your own name, these two things were not necessary. Next would be insurance, malpractice, etc. I've heard that you can contract with one, or several places, depending on your own personal preferance. I wish you much success!!
This may be a strange question. I am currently in LTC, which i have been for 19 years now, mostly as a CNA but have been an LPN for a little over a year. I want out!! I want something different and would love to try home care. My question is, do you have to go with an agency or can you go out on your own and advertise that you are an LPN seeking to do in home care?? Maybe people feel more comfortable going through a reputable agency, just wondering if I should even consider this as a possibility or not. Thanks.

Let me shoot some realities at you as a business owner myself.

1. Should you choose to work for yourself (at least here in CA), you will need to define a corporation. Why? If someone should sue you, they cannot a) take your house b) your 401k c) your personal savings, etc. I suppose you can file under an LLC (you would have to discuss the pros and cons of that with a corp. lawyer), but NOT a DBA.

2. You will need to file with the State Board of Corporations, the State Department, The Department of Weights and Measures (!), the Employemend Development Department, The State Board of Equalization, the...get the message?

3. Taxes. You will need to file QUARTERLY taxes. Explanation of this mess not needed, your imagaination can play that one out for you. Also, you will need to hire an accountant and corporation tax lawyer. Niether one of these guys are cheap. When you DO file your taxes, 1040 forms are a no-no. YOU get to file corporate taxes AS WELL as your personal. Think $800-1000 JUST TO FILE.

4. Think REAMS of paperwork. Not fun paperwork, either. Do you know how to run Quickbooks? Better learn.

5. I cannot even BEGIN to think how much you would be paying out for !

And the fun goes on, and on. I still dream about the "good old days" when SOMEBODY ELSE worried about all this, and the biggest concern I had was the 30 minutes once a year I spent at HR Block!

Of course, back then, I used to dream about "getting out of the rat race" and owning my own business! The grass IS always greener on the other side.

5. I cannot even BEGIN to think how much you would be paying out for LIABILITY insurance!

If the OP would be working as an individual caregiver, liability (malpractice) insurance would be around $350 a year for an RN. I'm not sure how much it would be for an LPN. $350 a year is higher than for an employed nurse, but hardly unimaginable.

If the OP would be working as an individual caregiver, liability (malpractice) insurance would be around $350 a year for an RN. I'm not sure how much it would be for an LPN. $350 a year is higher than for an employed nurse, but hardly unimaginable.

How deep is the coverage for that much?

Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

There is a forum on here for Nursing Entrepreneurs you might get some answers from previous posts there.

https://allnurses.com/forums/f56/

Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

I do home care through an agency part time. What I would do is purchase a book or two about home care nursing and see if this is for you. Personally, it is easier for me to do it through an agency, but if you wish to become an enterpreneur, investigate it while you are placing your feet in the water.

Specializes in dialysis.
This may be a strange question. I am currently in LTC, which i have been for 19 years now, mostly as a CNA but have been an LPN for a little over a year. I want out!! I want something different and would love to try home care. My question is, do you have to go with an agency or can you go out on your own and advertise that you are an LPN seeking to do in home care?? Maybe people feel more comfortable going through a reputable agency, just wondering if I should even consider this as a possibility or not. Thanks.

Don't let anyone scare you. I am self employed at it is not as hard as you think. My (up to 2' million) is less than 1000/yr. There is no 'reams and reams' of work. This is nonsense. You are a sole proprietorship, not a a multimillion dollar corp.

When you are a registered business and suddenly become unemployed, you can seek state aid. Also insurance is better. I used to work under the table without any strings attached. But this was with someone I knew.

In any case, do you research and know that it is possible. I am so happy with my decision. All I was doing was working for a large corporation and having them pay me pennies!!!

Specializes in icu, er, transplant, case management, ps.
Let me shoot some realities at you as a business owner myself.

1. Should you choose to work for yourself (at least here in CA), you will need to define a corporation. Why? If someone should sue you, they cannot a) take your house b) your 401k c) your personal savings, etc. I suppose you can file under an LLC (you would have to discuss the pros and cons of that with a corp. lawyer), but NOT a DBA.

2. You will need to file with the State Board of Corporations, the State Department, The Department of Weights and Measures (!), the Employemend Development Department, The State Board of Equalization, the...get the message?

3. Taxes. You will need to file QUARTERLY taxes. Explanation of this mess not needed, your imagaination can play that one out for you. Also, you will need to hire an accountant and corporation tax lawyer. Niether one of these guys are cheap. When you DO file your taxes, 1040 forms are a no-no. YOU get to file corporate taxes AS WELL as your personal. Think $800-1000 JUST TO FILE.

4. Think REAMS of paperwork. Not fun paperwork, either. Do you know how to run Quickbooks? Better learn.

5. I cannot even BEGIN to think how much you would be paying out for LIABILITY insurance!

And the fun goes on, and on. I still dream about the "good old days" when SOMEBODY ELSE worried about all this, and the biggest concern I had was the 30 minutes once a year I spent at HR Block!

Of course, back then, I used to dream about "getting out of the rat race" and owning my own business! The grass IS always greener on the other side.

I worked as a subcontractor, so all I had to deal with the the IRS. Not only do you have to prepay your estimated taxes but you are more likely to be audited. And as a self employed individual, while you can deduct reasonable business costs, be prepared to defend your deductions with every little piece of paper you have. And your social scurity taxes, they will almost double. You are your employer, so you pay all of the taxe burden, employer and employee. And don't forget the bad debit aspect. As an indpendent, you are likely to suffer more from failure of patients and their families to pay. And, while you can take them to small claims court, you can't bill them for your time, spent there. And you can't forget them or you will get a reputation in the community.

As far as being sued. Hope you never are. I was sued, a year after I had been forced to quit working because of injures I had suffered. Thankfully my was the type were I was covered for past incidents, even after I had been forced to drop it. But it still took their attorney another year to get the suit dismised. And it played a number on my already shakey nerves.

You can make big money working independently but for a lot of people, the cost is not worth the money.

Woody

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