Disheartend with Home Care Pay Rates

welvrdogz · Jun 15, 2001

Please assist me with what is appropriate pay for an R.N. with 11 years experience. I was very dissapointed today when I went for orientation for 8 hrs. (no pay for this) and no mention of pay scale was discussed until 4:30 p.m. Then being told, "if you really want to work, you can work as an R.N. at an L.P.N. rate". You're required to ask the rate for each case. The L.P.N. rate is $14-16/hr, and R.N.'s $16-20/hr. These cases are for "medically fragile" infants and children. I take full responsibility for being so naive and not asking this at my immediate interview. However, I now realize it was avoided for a reason...I wouldn't have shown up for orientation! Also,further orientation is done in the homes and "field homes" to get experience where you need it and the pay for this orientation is $10/hr. for both L.P.N.'s and R.N.'s. This pay seems quite low for 11 years as an R.N. and I felt quite insulted when I was offered more work if I agreed to take L.P.N. pay. Please, no intention of insulting L.P.N.

's...it's just I went to school and worked through alot of tears to become an R.N. and can't believe they would even suggest this!! This has really fired me up and I don't have plans to work for them unless I hear from alot of nurses that this pay is reasonable. I live in the Orlando, Fla. area, so any advice would be of great assistance as I struggle with this news. Thanks to all of you for listening and I enjoy seeing all the juicy stories I see on these BB's! Have a great one...! :confused:

[ June 14, 2001: Message edited by: sunny&sweet ]

P_RN, ADN, RN · Jun 15, 2001

Wow. I assume you walked out at 16:30 and 5 seconds?

Here in SC the public health/home health nurses (only pay rates I am familiar with) get $29-$32 per visit as temps /or $13.50 hour as grant temps. RN 1 entry level is $ 30,919 - $ 30,919/year. Larger towns require BSN, smaller towns any RN prep. There are 128 various openings with the department of health and it looks as if no one is really jumping at the chance.

http://www.state.sc.us/jobs/agency.html

P_RN, ADN, RN · Jun 15, 2001

Wow. I assume you walked out at 16:30 and 5 seconds?

Here in SC the public health/home health nurses (only pay rates I am familiar with) get $29-$32 per visit as temps /or $13.50 hour as grant temps. RN 1 entry level is $ 30,919 - $ 30,919/year. Larger towns require BSN, smaller towns any RN prep. There are 128 various openings with the department of health and it looks as if no one is really jumping at the chance.

http://www.state.sc.us/jobs/agency.html

Huganurse · Jun 15, 2001

I can't believe they are not paying for orientation when they are offering you hourly pay!!!

Huganurse · Jun 15, 2001

I can't believe they are not paying for orientation when they are offering you hourly pay!!!

Mijourney · Jun 16, 2001

Hi sunny. The pay in your post is quite low for orientation. The employers probably feel justified in paying standard orientation wages because initially you're considered to be in "school". I would be willing to bet that most of the nurses employed with this agency are LPNs. Correct me if I'm wrong. There is probably a regular turnover of RNs because of the wages and level of job responsibilities.

Curious. Are these babies and children under the state Medicaid program? I believe another poster pointed out problems with staffing with the public health department in their state.

Mijourney · Jun 16, 2001

Hi sunny. The pay in your post is quite low for orientation. The employers probably feel justified in paying standard orientation wages because initially you're considered to be in "school". I would be willing to bet that most of the nurses employed with this agency are LPNs. Correct me if I'm wrong. There is probably a regular turnover of RNs because of the wages and level of job responsibilities.

Curious. Are these babies and children under the state Medicaid program? I believe another poster pointed out problems with staffing with the public health department in their state.

BeachNurse · Jun 18, 2001

Hi, there..I did Home Health care last year with medically fragile children here in FL. I got exactly $0 for a total of 12 hours of orientation. I was paid $18/hr. I ended up leaving because, although I was a full-time employee, the company did not pick up any of the health insurance, and it was going to cost me $511 a month for my family! I had five years of nursing experience at the time, but they only paid a set rate, not dependent on how many years of exp. you had.

BeachNurse · Jun 18, 2001

Hi, there..I did Home Health care last year with medically fragile children here in FL. I got exactly $0 for a total of 12 hours of orientation. I was paid $18/hr. I ended up leaving because, although I was a full-time employee, the company did not pick up any of the health insurance, and it was going to cost me $511 a month for my family! I had five years of nursing experience at the time, but they only paid a set rate, not dependent on how many years of exp. you had.

hoolahan, ASN, RN · Jun 18, 2001

I'm in NJ, and I know up north, salaries overall are much better. However, that just stinks! The good thing is that you are paid hourly. Being paid by case, even at the average rate of $50 per new case, just doesn't pay, when you consider that a new takes (according to VNAA stats) 3.2 hours to complete with an average of 45 minutes of that time spent with the patient. For myself, I find I can never get done with even simple cases before 1.25 hours in the home, longer if a complicated case, like new bedbound pt, new tube feeds, trach, new diabetic, etc... (I don't do IV's, but I imagine they are longer too.) My personal average is 1.5 hours in the home, and 2 more hours of paperwork and phone calls/faxes.

Not suprised that orientation isn't paid, if you are working for an staffing-type-agency, that is very common in NJ. Or, after you work X number of shifts for them, they pay you $10/hr for orientation.

What I DO take issue with is you accepting LPN pay for RN position. I can't speak for Fla, but in NJ we are DESPERATE for all HH nurses, especially RN's who case manage. To my knowledge an LPN can't case manage, and maybe I am wrong, if so, no offense intended to any LPN's. If you accept this, I would 1. Refuse to case manage,and, 2. Refuse to accept any case that is clearly RN territory (like a new admission), check you state nurse practice act and companies policies on who can do what. The reason I say that is I strongly suspect they will have you doing an RN's work for an LPN's salary, which is entirely UNACCEPTABLE!!!!! If I were in your shoes, I would call them back, and say, I am really interested in a RN position, so I have decided to decline your offer, please let me know when you have an RN position available. I bet they offer you one on the spot! Or, at least wait a few days to pretend that a spot opened up. You are a valuable asset in this nursing shortage. DON'T SELL YOURSELF SHORT!!

hoolahan, ASN, RN · Jun 18, 2001

I'm in NJ, and I know up north, salaries overall are much better. However, that just stinks! The good thing is that you are paid hourly. Being paid by case, even at the average rate of $50 per new case, just doesn't pay, when you consider that a new takes (according to VNAA stats) 3.2 hours to complete with an average of 45 minutes of that time spent with the patient. For myself, I find I can never get done with even simple cases before 1.25 hours in the home, longer if a complicated case, like new bedbound pt, new tube feeds, trach, new diabetic, etc... (I don't do IV's, but I imagine they are longer too.) My personal average is 1.5 hours in the home, and 2 more hours of paperwork and phone calls/faxes.

Not suprised that orientation isn't paid, if you are working for an staffing-type-agency, that is very common in NJ. Or, after you work X number of shifts for them, they pay you $10/hr for orientation.

What I DO take issue with is you accepting LPN pay for RN position. I can't speak for Fla, but in NJ we are DESPERATE for all HH nurses, especially RN's who case manage. To my knowledge an LPN can't case manage, and maybe I am wrong, if so, no offense intended to any LPN's. If you accept this, I would 1. Refuse to case manage,and, 2. Refuse to accept any case that is clearly RN territory (like a new admission), check you state nurse practice act and companies policies on who can do what. The reason I say that is I strongly suspect they will have you doing an RN's work for an LPN's salary, which is entirely UNACCEPTABLE!!!!! If I were in your shoes, I would call them back, and say, I am really interested in a RN position, so I have decided to decline your offer, please let me know when you have an RN position available. I bet they offer you one on the spot! Or, at least wait a few days to pretend that a spot opened up. You are a valuable asset in this nursing shortage. DON'T SELL YOURSELF SHORT!!