Co-workers in Home Health

[cardiologynurse]

I'm a nurse with 5 years of experience and have worked in the same hospital during my five years. Before becoming a nurse, I was in the business world (corporate sales). My office was out of my home and I reported to my boss who was out of State. I am finding the office politics of being a nurse unbearable at times. The other component is that I prefer to work by myself. I love working with patients, but I really don't like working with the same people (especially those I have zero chemistry with) day in and day out. My question is, how autonomous do you actually work in Home Health? Do you pretty much run your own show, or is that not reality? Do most home health RN's office out of home or do you report into another office with co-workers? Please advise. I know this note makes me sound dreadful, but I'm really not. The bottom line is that I just like managing my own day and like working alone.

[Katiestruk]

Home care is great for working by yourself. Your agency will have an office of course. This is where you get your assignments, supplies and meet with your supervisor to discuss your patients. We also have a weekly case conference at my office which is very helpful. You will not work with other nurses in your day to day visits but you will work with PTs, OTs, STs and home health aides. when it is your turn to work a weekend or holiday or if your case load is a little low you may see other nurses patients. I've been doing home care for 18 years and love it!

[caliotter3]

If you choose to do extended care work rather than intermittent visits, your contact with other nurses will be limited to shift to shift report when you work on a case where there is more than one nurse assigned to do more than one shift. If the shift times do not coincide, you may never meet the other nurse(s) on the case. You can, however, be affected by "nurse politics" should one or more of the other nurses have an ongoing boundary issue going on with the patient, patient's family, and/or with each other. For shift work, you can always request to be assigned to those cases that only employ one shift or are otherwise limited in number of assigned nurses, so that you have as little contact with anyone else as is possible. As previously mentioned, you will have the greatest amount of autonomy with intermittent visit work.

[Msleely212]

I started HH at the end of December after working in the hospital for 5 years mostly telemetry. The company I work for uses an android device. Once I got use to the software I am getting faster. I am loving HH because I was usually the nurse ready to help when needed but did I did not socialize much with co-workers. People always assumed I was the quiet one but I just preferred to take care of my patients and stay to myself. I feel this job fits my personality well. I have to go into the office once a week for case conference, also if I need supplies or new packets. But all the needed info is on my android, including a rolling 7 day calendar with my patients, with access to H&Ps, orders, and other notes from SN, PT, OT, MSW, or the office. I am enjoying being able to focus on one pt at a time, I actually feel like I am accomplishing something. I was very nervous to leave the hospital because I felt it was more stable, but I was miserable and losing my passion for nursing because of all the tasks and issues on the floor. I am not saying HH is perfect because there are some things I run into that drive me crazy, but at the end of my day I LOVE NURSING!!

[AMN74]

Your interaction with co-workers doing intermittent visit home health visits really varies depending on the agency that you work for. Fortunately, now that computers are part of the job (for most home health agencies, and if they are not...they soon will have to be computerized according to law within the next couple of years) I find that you have to be involved with the office staff less and less. We use e-mails to communicate, we use clinical notes in our computer to communicate, and very seldom any more do we even use telephones. Of course telephone commnuication is imparative sometimes. Our office even uses web-ex telephone conferences now to case conference on the patients and we don't even have to go to the office for the case conferences. But some smaller home health agencies still require that you go to the office and interact with others more often. There are times when it's necessary to talk with other nurses, therapists, social workers, etc. It all depends on what the need is. I find that home health (field staff), after doing it for many years is much more autonomous than working in other settings, and I prefer it that way!

[cathrn64]

My agency uses tablets for documentation. We are able to mail in our paper documentation (consents etc) We have case conferences on the phone, and even weekly nursing meeting's are on the phone. We get our supplies mailed to our homes. We go in for meetings once a month or less. I see therapists at patient's homes, I don't see my fellow nurse coworkers very often at all. I actually miss seeing my co-workers sometimes. It is great to be able to have some control over my schedule. I have been in Home care for 20 years and would never go back to a hospital.

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[pat8585]

Dont be fooled...home health has its share of politics! you can definitely get some interesting family members and

nurses that are friends to the patient /their family . This can cause you and your job hours to be toast in a heartbeat!!

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

I work private duty, and I go to school with my client. My co-workers are instructional aides, the school nurses, and a handful of others. It's one of the more pleasant places I've worked, but there are definitely workplace politics.

My agency uses paper for everything, and I hate it. The visit team is geting tablets, and they can't come to my team soon enough.