Expencised HHN - Please Advice!

[hellomich]

due to family problem i stop working for a year and am now ready to return to the work force. i am interested in working as a hhn. the reason i consider hh is because of the working hours, and i believe i can help people in a different perspective. the only experience i have is working in a cardiac step down unit for 2 years.

will lacking of home health and/or community health experience affect my chance of job seeking?

how should i prepare myself to become a hhn?

what do i expected for the interview?

thank you all

[bebop1]

Well, things to consider are you a RN? Usually RN's have to take call. Taking call means 24 hours a day 7 days a week. at my company there is a rotating shift to where i go on call once a month. There will be a lot of miles on your car, do you have car that can put up with this? and a lot of gas? if these are all ok questions....then.

I was on a cardiac unit before I became a home health nurse, and you learn so much on the job in the field that is it amazing. I would never go back to being a nurse in the hospital again. each nurse has their calling and I have found mine. I love to get a chance to get to know my patients, develop a relationship with them. So when you walk through that door and say hello you can know at that moment if something is wrong with them. I Have been a DON of a home health company and when I interview nurses I just pretty much talked to them on their experiences and what they did, and how they will react in a persons home. we our out of our element and placed in the patients. good luck and I hope you love home healt as much as I do.

[caliotter3]

Considering that there are some home health agencies that will hire people right out of school, you are doing well to have some experience. Most of the time they are looking for some type of experience and will accept LTC although they prefer med surg. You will be asked about your previous experience in patient care and your abilities with basic nursing care. You will be asked to fill out a form listing your experience/ability with several nursing measures. One of the biggest things that you can do to help yourself is to ask to shadow home health nurses and to ask for a thorough orientation. If the agency needs you badly enough they will be willing to work with you to get you comfortable with your new role. Good luck with home health and come back to let us know how it is going.