Experience Needed?

JustMeRN · Nov 14, 2015

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Hi All,
Im interested in visiting nursing, but I've been out of direct patient care for a few years. What kinds of clinical skills are most necessary to be a strong visiting nurse, and what do you think is the best way for me to polish those skills? I've been working in an office setting for a few years and I miss direct patient care, but my skills are rusty! Thanks!

I worked medsurge four more than 10 years, then outpatient (phone calls) over 2 years before moving into home health last year. For me it was an easy transition. You do need to have very strong assessment and decision making skills. And good time management. In terms of procedural skills it depends a lot on the agency and what you will see. We do a ton of wound care, ton of medication teaching and chronic condition management (heart failure and copd being big ones). More occasionally have urinary catheters, tube feeds, trachs, and pleural drainage devices. Min my agency IV certifications and blood draws are optional if you want to train for the,

i think a lot depends on your agency as well. The general consensus is your orientation will stink. Agencies expect you to hit the ground running. Be sure the agency you choose has good clinical support for when you need it to do co visits for unfamiliar skills or procedures. Home health can be overwhelming. Make sure that right from the start you learn to say no, and don't get pushed beyond your limit. It seems that many nurses quit home health when it overwhelms them. There is no reason your agency should expect you to do so many visits that you need hours to catch up at night, and work 80 hours a week without overtime pay. But most agencies will do just that if you let them. Good luck!

Fiddlesticks27 · Nov 14, 2015

Good to know! Thank you for your thoughtful reply!

JustMeRN · Nov 15, 2015

Good to know! Thank you for your thoughtful reply!

No problem. I love home health, it is my "it" position. But even then, I see lots of room for improvement. It's not perfect. It is also a rapidly growing area as healthcare transforms and cost reduction forces people home from the hospital sooner. And rapid growth leaves, in my opinion, lots of room for improvement. Good luck.