Have any of you gone straight into home health or ONLY had home health experience?

caliotter3 · Dec 30, 2010

But tinysam, changing diapers for a stable peds patient and getting paid for it certainly is better than sending out resumes from home all day and lamenting the fact one does not have a job. If you are bored, continue to seek a better position from the security of your present job. Good luck.

Erclifton85 · Dec 30, 2010

I went directly into home health (well, I had 1 month of long term care experience and that was enough). I have been a home health and hospice RN for just over a year, I just got employee of the year, and am doing fine. I think the job is kind of slow and boring at times. I have gotten some good experience but am ready to get a different experience in a hospital if possible. I will probably be pigeonholed, but I'm going to start applying.

Good luck to you in whatever you choose. It is possible to go into home health as a new grad and do fine, I just don't think most people would. I think many of my classmates would have done poorly taking the job I did, it depends on the person. I did have 1 year of home health aide experience FYI.

raebabelvn, LVN · Dec 31, 2010

The bulk of my experience is in peds home health.... right out of nursing school I had a summer gig as a camp nurse. That lasted 10 weeks. Other than that, home health/private duty has been my only source of nursing employment.

When I did visits, I was pretty overwhelmed. I didn't get a lot of training, and I was a brand new, just licensed LVN. Staying with 1 stable patient is the better way to go in my opinion. Yeah, it can get boring, but its a job.

JeanettePNP, MSN, RN, NP · Jan 11, 2011

I am a new grad and I went straight into private duty nursing. I work with 2 children, 8-10 hours a day. To be honest I am bored (I actually posted a few days back about how I feel like a babysitter) and although I gained a few skills, they pretty much stop there since I see the same kids every week. For me there was NOTHING else. I applied everywhere with no luck. I will stick with it until something better comes along. As they say, any nursing experience is better than none.
PM me if you want any more information.

I'm in this position right now. The only job prospect I have now is pediatric home care, with a patient that I already know as a volunteer. It would be nice to work and get paid, but I worry about what this will mean for me career-wise... there is no way I will learn as much taking care of a single child in homecare as I would in an acute care setting. And it was the challenge and learning opportunities that made me want to go into nursing to begin with. I know that working some job looks better on a resume than doing nothing... but I also have some concerns about how reputable this agency is.

SHenneberry, RN-BSN · Jan 11, 2011

I graduated in May 2010 and took my boards in August 2010, thereby receiving my nursing registration a week after boards. My husband and I were expecting a baby October 2010 and he was born September 28th. Therefore, it was challenging to imagine myself going on job interviews very pregnant. I had worked for a home care agency in Michigan as a student nurse and decided I'd try to stay in Home Care as a new graduate after the baby was born. However, I find I feel really inexperienced, confused...without a lot of help or guidance. Although I love the company I work for, generally speaking, it's a private home care agency without a lot of medicaid/medicare cases... I also feel like they call me with all the "leftover cases," and try to use words wisely to put a positive swing on the cases they offer me. Recently, I received a phone call offering me a case from Midnight to Noon.... WHAT A HORRIBLE SHIFT... to offer a new graduate who isn't single... I have a 3 month old and 3 year old.. and a hubby in the Air Force Reserve on top of that!

Needless to say, I'm very passionate about home care... however, I've been applying to the hospital systems and getting in touch with all my nursing contacts... I feel so inexperienced and as if I know nothing right now. Out of all the book knowledge I gained, I spent 8 years in school working on my BSN... I need to be in a place where I'm surrounded by Nurses... and staff, and people who can mentor me... I don't find that in home care thus far. I need to be watching and learning constantly.. I need to be saturated with Nursing. lol I want to stick with following some leads in home care but I'm definitely moving into the hospital system ASAP and hopefully I can do mostly hospital and a little bit of home care here and there.

peacetou · Jan 11, 2011

hello,

they may give you all the 'left over' cases now but once you prove yourself and show them that you know your stuff, you will become invaluable to them. Don't sell yourself short.

good luck,

peace:crying2::redbeathe:redpinkhe:nurse::)

prettygirllpn · Jan 21, 2011

I went into home health right out of school ( i'm an LPN) and i do not regret it at all. I have gotten a ton of experience. Wound vacs, lots of lab draws, in depth teaching on diease process, wound care, just to name a small percentage. Yes there is drama with the families and pts but there will be in the hospitals also. Drama is everywhere! I love HH because of the flexable schedule, decent pay and the routine. I love rountines! Anyways, my point was, i went into HH first and I think it was the best thing I could have done.

Miss Kisha · Jan 21, 2011

Hey y'all, I'm in a similiar boat but I'm lovin it. The agency I'm with says they don't put newbies anywhere alone. I started out in a foster home that is actually serviced by two different agencies. 4 sweet kiddies and usually 3 nurses max and there was plenty to learn and do. Sure there is a little down time but for me it's balanced by the time when it's crazy busy. The foster situation was great cause there were oher nurses there for ?'s guidance and just to watch. Pedi private duty is a great choice for me and my lifestyle. Ask around and see if a foster home with your company needs a nurse, even if it's odd hours initially.

RNDude1 · Jan 22, 2011

I started as a new grad in home health, but my company (Gentiva) gave me orientation. How could they not??

I stayed for nearly eight months before I became concerned that the lack of exposure to certain skill-sets would restict me from bedside forever--I worked too hard in nursing school to let that happen. So I bailed; please consider a PRN bedside position if you do accept the HH gig.

Here are some questions to consider:

1. What are the productivity expectations as a new grad but also after you have been there for a year?

2. What is the expectation of you when they become short staffed?

3. What continuing education do they offer?

4. When will they begin using point-of-care documentation (using laptops)?

5. Is your pay based on # pts seen or are you salary (may lead to highly fluctuating paychecks!)?

6. Ask about the performance improvement plan.

7. Ask about the support you can expect if you are asked to perform a procedure that you are not comfortable with (you don't want them to require you to go alone and perform nor do you want to be penalized for asking for help).

8. Is the company bringing LPNs into the company also (limits RN visits--and $$)?

I will add, as with bedside, your home health coworkers may tend to "eat their young." This is especially acute if a few of them feel that fresh grads should not be hired into home health. You might have to gird your loins, so to speak. :twocents:

LTV950rn · Jan 24, 2011

I think home health is a good place to start, but you need to work for a good agency that is willing to give you all the training/orientation needed for you to be successful. I disagree that private duty is "glorified babysitting"- it requires critical thinking and a strong ability to work autonomously. You will learn in any nursing setting you work in. I did private duty straight out of LPN school, and my agency was very supportive as far as training and being available for questions/concerns. Some agencies will just throw you in there, but you have a right to ask for more training or to refuse to do tasks that you do not feel prepared for. There are different nurses for every situation-some do not care for home health and prefer the pace of the hospital, and others like me enjoy the one-on-one total nursing care and do not like the business of hospital nursing. Good luck! Keep an open mind!

quilb · Mar 3, 2011

Home care isn't where ANY nurse should be straight out of school. You need to be 100% sure of yourself and confident to be a home care nurse. There is no one to go to when you have an emergency, no RT to call, no doctor to page, it's all you. Home care is the last place you should be trying to find experience. Unfortunately alot of the home care agencies are shady to say the least, sending nurses to homes they aren't even close to being qualified for.

I can't even begin to tell you some of the horror stories from other home care nurses and parents I've heard. I feel terrible for so many of the parents, going without sleep for nights and weeks at a time, due to poor staffing from the agencies and underqualified nurses trying to "gain their experience" through these families. Parents end up doing the work of the agencies by almost fully traing us, putting even more work on themselves. It's really a sad situation.

Home care is what you make of it. You sit on your rear end doing nothing for an entire shift and, yes you'll be board out of your mind by the end of the first week. If you actually follow the care plan and parents instruction and you should have a fully satisfying shift.

Unfortunately, the bulk of home care nurses are people that are either too lazy to work hospitals or have poor work ethics, and know that they can get away with it in people's homes. The few exceptions to that statement are a god send to the families who need them.

LTV950rn · Mar 3, 2011

Home care isn't where ANY nurse should be straight out of school. You need to be 100% sure of yourself and confident to be a home care nurse. There is no one to go to when you have an emergency, no RT to call, no doctor to page, it's all you. Home care is the last place you should be trying to find experience. Unfortunately alot of the home care agencies are shady to say the least, sending nurses to homes they aren't even close to being qualified for.
I can't even begin to tell you some of the horror stories from other home care nurses and parents I've heard. I feel terrible for so many of the parents, going without sleep for nights and weeks at a time, due to poor staffing from the agencies and underqualified nurses trying to "gain their experience" through these families. Parents end up doing the work of the agencies by almost fully traing us, putting even more work on themselves. It's really a sad situation.
Home care is what you make of it. You sit on your rear end doing nothing for an entire shift and, yes you'll be board out of your mind by the end of the first week. If you actually follow the care plan and parents instruction and you should have a fully satisfying shift.
Unfortunately, the bulk of home care nurses are people that are either too lazy to work hospitals or have poor work ethics, and know that they can get away with it in people's homes. The few exceptions to that statement are a god send to the families who need them.

I find this to be a horribly snotty and rude reply, quite honestly. I am not lazy, do not have poor work ethics, and am proud to say that the majority of my co-workers are not what you have judged them to be as written above. I also worked home care right out of school and had proper orientation and training from my agency and family (per the FAMILY's request, mind you), and learned a lot. Let's be real- who as a new grad can get a job at a hospital right now? Few and far between. It is the responsibility of the license holder to obtain proper training and orientation. If they cannot speak up or refuse to work for an agency that will not provide this, then that is their fault and responsibility. Furthermore, you can find nurses who are lazy and have poor work ethics in ANY setting, including the hospital. I am sick and tired of seeing hospitals portrayed as being the "best" and only place to gain nursing experience. Nursing happens in and out of hospitals and learning occurs in all settings. I have seen many posts on allnurses and had discussions with other nurses in which hospitals and LTC's provide sub-par training and have had horrible precepting experiences. I have heard horror stories from patients about the care they received in hospitals as well. Poor care and training occur everywhere. Let's keep this in perspective. Everyone has to start somewhere.