ER nurse interested in home health

[ERNurseKDB]

I have been an RN for 4.5 years. My first 2.5 years were spent on the medical/renal floor of our local hospital. The last 2 have been spent in the Level 1 Emergency Trauma Center at the same hospital. I have worked 12 hr nights for the past 2 years, and I have about had enough of it! I have a son who will soon be 3, and I am really tired of not being there to put him to bed, to get him up in the mornings, to take him to school, etc.... I have begun looking into home health for a more flexible, family friendly schedule, and I have an interview tomorrow. What I do know so far is that the company requires 25 visits per week, and I will paid per visit. I think the pay is roughly $30/visit, and $75-100 for admissions. I will be provided with a laptop and a company cell phone, and reimbursed for mileage. I'm trying to come up with a list of questions that I need to ask in my interview. I have come up with the following:

-Do you see the same patients for the length of their need for home health, or are the pt's rotated with all the nurses in the area?

-Can you chart at home or is it required to be done on the job?

-Do you require on call time?

-How many visits per week do most RN's average?

I am also concerned about the pay. This year I made approximately $60k, and I can't really afford to take a huge paycut. I just need a realisitic idea of how many visits I should expect to be able to complete in a week to get a guess on my pay. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions?

[annaedRN, RN]

Do you see the same patients for the length of their need for home health, or are the pt's rotated with all the nurses in the area?

-Can you chart at home or is it required to be done on the job?

-Do you require on call time?

-How many visits per week do most RN's average?

My agency does case management so the pt is my responsibility but we work as RN/LPN teams so often the stable pt needing wound care or CV assessments are given to the LPNs so I can do admissions or unstable/higher need pt. But, yes, I follow them through until discharge. I have found it is very efficient to chart as much as possible in the pt home, but what I don't get done there I do at home. There is a lot of charting in HH but it gets better once you adjust to it. And since it has to be done, I like that I can be at home in my sweats - still able to see my kid, throw a load of laundry in, take the dog out to pee..... I take on-call weekend every 6 weeks. Meaning any calls or visits that need to be handled from 430p to 8a fri and sat. But I don't work any weekends. An average day is 5-6 visits, with admissions counting as 2 due to the extra length of the visit as well as the paperwork. We do not do more than 2 admissions a day. So, yeah, 25-30 visits a week is normal. Very doable as long as your coverage area is not too huge. As far as money, it's a little less than the hospital but I make close to/about what you make - but I am salary with extra for on call. To me, the benefits of HH far outweigh any cons. Good luck to you!

[caliotter3]

You might consider asking about shift work. You can work stable hours and are only responsible for that charting dealing with your shift for the day, usually one nurses' note. No driving around from visit to visit, get long term interaction with patient, and often other perks too. Ask about this at the interview. Good luck in home health. You will find it is an entirely different atmosphere, definitely more relaxing than the Trauma Center.

[ernrs2b]

I, also, am an ER nurse and started HH 2months ago...I still work in the ER 3 days a week and get paid per visit with HH...I love it! I drop my daughter off at school in the morning, go and see patients throughout the day and pick her up in the afternoon...I'm considering giving up the ER fulltime and switching to HH fulltime and doing ER prn...good luck!