Home health aide as RN student?

[esunada]

I currently work in an Assisted Living Facility on a Memory Care floor in a role similar to a nursing assistant. They are flexible with my schedule and I've worked there for a year.

I just got an interview for a casual home health aide position through a large hospital system. I'm contemplating whether to do it.

Will I learn more and work more with medically ill patients in a home health aide position that's part of a hospital system? I'm guessing I'll get a $1-2 more and hopefully get an in within the system as my eventual goal is to be an RN in the hospital setting.

I'm in nursing school right now with one year left. I just can't decide whether I want to give up my current job that's flexible and whether I'll do much more than what I'm already doing now, so in other words, whether it's worth it to make the effort.

[honeykrown, MSN, NP]

Home health aides are similar and sometimes different from HHA. Look at the job description and see if it is what you would like to do. Is it going to be at the facility or it would be in the Pt's homes.

The positive thing i see here is that you would have a foot in the door when you are applying for jobs which you can take into consideration in making your decision

[missbutton]

I was a home health aide in nursing school and I loved it. But no, the people you will work with will be more stable than in any facility. They only need 1 to 3 hours of nursing care per week vs. 24 hr nursing care of a facility. Before you would take it, I would think about where you want to start out as a new grad. Being a home health aide helped me in my initial interviews, but I think being a cna in the hospital would have helped me far more. I was able to talk about my experience with pt care, but I got the sense during my interviews that they wanted to hear that and that you have experience with the non stop demands of the hospital setting.

Just think about it.

[Skips, MSN, RN]

Being a home health aide is rewarding. You really get to know your clients well, and can attend to their needs without them asking after awhile. It's enjoyable! I am a home health aide, and I like it. I'm not sure if an assisted living facility would get your foot in the door to working in a hospital setting more than home health, though. Neither are acute care, and have the same kind of stable clients. That's my opinion, though. I've only worked in home health since becoming a CNA.