Home care nursing for New Grad

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Hello all!

Good news is I graduate in 10 days! Woohoo! Bad news is no one seems to be hiring! All these hospitals are being extremely upfront about no longer taking new graduates which is very discouraging to say the least. Even though who had extern and aide positions are not landing jobs with their companies. I have no experience in healthcare other than my nursing clinicals so the odds are def against me at this time. I keep getting generic rejections and needless to say, its getting old. I know things might change once i pass boards but from the sounds of it, this is how its going to be for a few months.

My question: At this time I have been 3 different positions by 3 separate homecare companies. My question is this a good idea as a new grad who probably wont find a position in a hospital for a few years anyway? How is the pay? I understand one comapny offered me $50 per revisit...how many visits can i anticipate a week? I would love some feedback from some homecare nurses out there. Thanks!

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Specializes in Psychiatry.

There are many many threads on this same topic located in the 'home health nursing' forum.

here is the link:

https://allnurses.com/home-health-nursing/

Best to you!

Diane

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Specializes in Peds, Med-Surg, Disaster Nsg, Parish Nsg.

Thread moved to Home Health Nursing forum for more responses.

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I am a new grad as well, just started working in LTC. Once I get settled in this, I was wondering if it would be a good idea to do some home health to broaden my experience. I was nervous about starting home health with no experience outside of clinicals because in the home - there'd be no one to ask a question of! :-) I am interested in seeing what response you get. Ultimately, I'd like to do hospice.

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I'm a new grad LPN with absolutely no medical experience except for clinicals. All through Nursing school, I was told to never do homehealth until I had at least one year of experience in the hospital. Well, the times have changed and there is no space in the hospital for new grads at the moment so I was willing to take the risk. I've been working in pediatric home health for 3 months and I love it! If you're doing home health visits than that is a different story. I work 8 hour shifts,5 days a week with one patient that they have scheduled with me permanently for the moment. Honestly, I feel this is the perfect job for a new grad. You will learn alot mostly depending on the person's specific diagnosis. Hospital work is too stressful for a new grad. Home health gives you the opportunity to learn at a much slower pace. Especially since you need to practice balancing work with paperwork as well. Trust me, it takes a while to learn paperwork alone! Don't be scared to take the risk. It will be difficult at first but it does not take too long to settle in! Hope this helped.

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It is easier to start out in home health if you do extended care rather than intermittent visit work. In extended care, you would be providing basic, routine care for stable clients for an entire shift. You would only be responsible for one nursing note by the end of your shift and you only have to drive to one address for your work day. Trachs, G tubes, and vents, for the most part, are the bulk of where you will be using your skills. Pay may be limited because most of extended care is considered LPN level, and paid accordingly. Not all employers offer more pay per hour for an RN working such a case.

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Specializes in Functional Medicine, Holistic Nutrition.

There have been many posts on this topic. My opinion is that home health is not a good place for the typical new grad. There is far too much autonomy and you have to have enough knowledge to recognize abnormal clinical findings. If there is an issue or if you have a question, there is not an experienced nurse right there to provide assistance. That being said, if you are highly motivated, a bright student, a fast learner, and you choose the right home health agency, you may do okay. The right agency is absolutely key. There are a lot of shady home health agencies out there that will hire anyone with a pulse and provide little to no orientation. I would stick with well-established, larger agencies (preferably associated with a hospital system) that are able to provide an adequate orientation and continuing support for a new grad. The orientation for a new grad in the home health setting should be at least 8 weeks making joint visits with an experienced nurse, with continued support as the new grad transitions to making visits alone. The problem is that you are going to be hard pressed to find an agency that will offer that kind of orientation in the current economic climate.

Another poster suggested private duty nursing, which may be a better choice for a new grad. Good luck to you!

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Difficult to start in private duty nursing because private duty clients are more demanding in their requirements for experience and you do not have the backup of an agency should you run into problems.

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Specializes in Functional Medicine, Holistic Nutrition.
Difficult to start in private duty nursing because private duty clients are more demanding in their requirements for experience and you do not have the backup of an agency should you run into problems.

I thought that was what you were describing when you said "extended care".

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I shouldnt be giving any advice since I'm also a brand new nurse, but I think that before you start at any organization you should find out about their orientation. I was just hired to work as a long term home health nurse (visiting non-acute patients), the orientation last about 3 months and after i'm done with the orientation they will slowing increased my case load, so far everything i've heard sounds great!....the reason they hired me is because I'm fluent in spanish and they needed a spanish speaking nurse. I do have 7 years working as an EMT so I'm used to going into patients homes and driving around the whole day, but I do understand that EMT experience and nursing experience are not the same.Ideally I wanted to work at a hospital and then go into home health since is something that always caugh my eyes, but I had no luck finding a hospital job and I didnt want to let this opportunity go. We new grads need jobs and nobody wants us, try it out if you think you cant handle it then quit....don't risk your license. Good luck!!!!:)

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I shouldnt be giving any advice since I'm also a brand new nurse, but I think that before you start at any organization you should find out about their orientation. I was just hired to work as a long term home health nurse (visiting non-acute patients), the orientation last about 3 months and after i'm done with the orientation they will slowing increased my case load, so far everything i've heard sounds great!....the reason they hired me is because I'm fluent in spanish and they needed a spanish speaking nurse. I do have 7 years working as an EMT so I'm used to going into patients homes and driving around the whole day, but I do understand that EMT experience and nursing experience are not the same.Ideally I wanted to work at a hospital and then go into home health since is something that always caugh my eyes, but I had no luck finding a hospital job and I didnt want to let this opportunity go. We new grads need jobs and nobody wants us, try it out if you think you cant handle it then quit....don't risk your license. Good luck!!!!:)

I use to be a EMT also, only did 3 months of Med/Surg, then jumped into HH and never looked back.

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I'm a new grad RN and talked with a couple home health agencies who said Medicare won't let them hire new grads because Medicare has a stipulation about RN's needing one year of experience... is this BS or ?? I'm just curious how people are getting started in home health and I am being told I can't as a new grad....

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