Do you feel like you make a difference?

Everyday, but it comes with experience.

The difference between a new home health nurse and one who has years of growth and experience keeping up with the need of their patient population is vast. Stick with it and be invested in learning all of the ways and nuances in becoming optimally effectiv, and most importantly learn the extent of the role. You'll then see the tangible differnce you can make with an anxious and overwhelmed patient/family first coming home with new dx and changes in function.

Yup, what Libby said. I've been doing this for 3 years now but only feel like I have helped people in the past year or so. The biggest area is when they first come home and are very anxious, just the presence of the nurse seems to really help people relax. Of course there will always be patients that you're not really sure why you are there or they really don't want you there but thats not often. Ive been a nurse 10+ years in different settings and this is by far my favorite. I love seeing people in their home environment.

Some days/ patients you make a difference, some you don't. The differences are not always as dramatic as you probably saw in oncology. Sometimes the wins are very small (your Chf patient threw away the salt shaker, or weighed himself every single day since your last visit). Home care is much more long term in most cases, so the benefit you are providing is sometimes more gradual. And you will make not a bit of difference for some people because they won't / can't change or take care of themselves. With those clients it's really about helping control the damage as much as you can. Sometimes just support is all you can do, change and making a difference are not always an option, be ok with that.

Someone else mentioned what a difference the first visit makes for some, and I have to agree. I switched to a position doing complex care admissions only and find it very rewarding. When doing an admit try to take your time, provide lots of education and reassurance, and do a thourough med rec. I can't even tell you how many times someone claims to have a good handle on meds, we look through bottles and compare lists and it's a complete disaster.

I'm a new home health nurse. I worked on an oncology unit before going to home health, and I loved oncology patients because I really felt like I made a difference in their lives. I left the hospital because I was burned out, came home stressed and miserable every day, and turned very bitter and mean to people. All of that has gone away since starting in home health, which is a relief. My only concern about home health is it seems like most of the job is paperwork. I don't mind paperwork, but I don't want to feel like all I do is take vitals, change dressings, and do paperwork. I've only had a few days on the job, so I don't know what it all entails. I want to feel like I'm doing something meaningful that helps people or makes a difference in their lives. I'm just curious to hear experienced home health nurses' thoughts/stories about how you feel like you make a difference, to encourage me that I made the right decision to switch to home health. Thanks :)

Ok, just trying to get my finger on your pulse here.

In the hospital, you *did* have that feeling you were making a difference BUT, you were unhappy and miserable anyway. That's what I'm reading.

Perhaps, like most of us, you are finding out altruistic motivations alone are not enough.

So I'm going to answer your question from a point of view that reflects my career up to now: Feeling like you "make a difference" is often times the icing on the cake. It is not always going to be there for you. We as nurses have to know how to keep ourselves from burning out even when it is not present.

I enjoy and give preference to jobs that might offer this, but I look at a much bigger picture as well. I now also know that commute, stability, the leadership of the facility (are they a chaotic mess or clean and concise with policies and expectations, do they have your back?) and the work schedule have as much to do with (or more) my not being burnt out as feeling like I make a difference does. In the presence of having that altruistic feeling with all these other things amiss, I become like you at the Oncology unit.

Case in point: My current case I work on. I certainly feel like I make a difference. That is given to me a hundred times over. But, the company I work for is disjointed and fragmented in their way of doing things, very "make it up as you go along". Also, the position itself is unstable, could end at any time. So, I am moving on, because I know eventually these things will make me unhappy.

I love being a pediatric homehealth nurse. The strides you see them make because of you really does make you smile. I work with 9 months - 5 year olds and I love it. I'm in school for my bachelor's now so that's also a plus. I've attempted to do the visits vs private duty but it's not enjoyable the least bit to me. Especially because visits are usually adults and I'm a pediatric nurse through and through. It's very rewarding to see progress.