Home Health Care...

Is it a good job? I signed up for visiting patients houses, but want to know how it is? Does any LVNs do this and how much do they pay?

I had a home care case with a pediatric client with a trach, and will be starting a case with a ventilator in July. I have been an LPN since last year. They pay me $25 a hour, I stay at one home from 8-10 hours. I live in New York, so, I am not sure if the rate is different where you live. I only do it once a week along with my regular job.

So do you like it? I'm only going to get about 1 day out of the week??????? Aww crap. I was hoping for full time. Awww man. How is it?

So do you like it? I'm only going to get about 1 day out of the week??????? Aww crap. I was hoping for full time. Awww man. How is it?

I only do one day a week because I have a full time Monday through Friday job in a hospital clinic. I have to stay at this job because they paid my way through school, and part of the contract is that we have to stay about three years, and the pay sucks. I do like homecare, but you have to be careful to stay businesslike with the family and client. At home, there is no supervision, so, things are more lax. That can be good or bad, depending on the situation. You can be flexible regarding when to medicate a patient, bathing, maybe even have time to read a good book. Homecare is excellent for an LPN seeking to become an RN because there is plenty of time to read. If you like alot of action, that may not be for you because some people get bored. I LOVE to read, so, this works out well for me. Family dynamics can take it's toll on you at times.

Also, you are alone with this patient, and if there is an emergency, you are solely responsible for maintaining that patient until EMS comes. You may have to be a bit creative with things such as supplies, if the home may be running low. What made me want to leave my peds patient is that now that it is summertime, the mother wanted to take her out more, to places such as birthday parties, movies, shopping sprees, and the child is a handful. Other children being around can cause accidents, and even though this child is under my care, as a nurse, I am also liable to a degree if something happens to another child. Imagine this scenerio...you are the nurse and you escort your pediatric client to a birthday party with 20 other children. You see that they are feeding the children frankfutters and you warn the hostess. A child chokes, and your client has run off. Of course, you may perform the manovers to save the child. Meanwhile, something happens to your client that you are being paid to care for...say she falls. Where does the liability end? I felt more like a nanny than a nurse. I decided to try an adult client.

I do like the idea of home care. One client, you can do total nursing care, and the stress is a lot less than the hospital. I would like to continue, obviously, but, there is more than just the client. Family dynamics, distance, the condition of the home (I hear that some nurses have had to visit really nasty homes with roaches and mice running around like pets). I can go on and on about what I have learned to consider, but, I'll save it for another time.

Tell me, tell me, tell me!!! Iwant to know what I'm getting in to. They would actually put you in an unsanitary place like that?!?!?! Oh HECK no.

tell me, tell me, tell me!!! iwant to know what i'm getting in to. they would actually put you in an unsanitary place like that?!?!?! oh heck no.

i will...tomorrow. seriously, i am not trying to put you off. i have to go to work...lol and i am up later than i am supposed to be. i have not personally worked in places like that, but go into allnurses home care and agency forums. they'll share with you, also. i have personally met nurses in my personal life and have read many of the posts here in allnurses. some have worried about being attacked on the job, for example. i think one here in allnurses (i do not want to misquote her), but it was something to do with being at home with a pediatric client and the father came home drunk and tried to rape her or something.

or, the other nurses not coming in to relieve on time, and there is no one home with the client. this happened to me, once. i had to leave, and was told that a nurse would be there to relieve me. no one came. of course, i was not going to leave a 5 year old child at home alone. but, i had to wait until the mother arranged for someone else to come in. sometimes, people have to go to unsafe neighborhoods.

basically, i think that you have to look before you leap. what i do is visit the home before i decide to accept the case. i do not have a car, so, i have to see how much time it takes to get there, again, see the family dynamics and if i can handle the client. i usually go when there is another nurse from the agency who may give you the real skinny about the situation under the cuff, so to speak, and how they deal with it. i let them orient me to the case, before i decide to take it on for myself. i'll post more tomorrow, or, you can certainly pm me. i'll answer back, believe me. i know how it is to be a brand new nurse, or a nurse walking into something for the first time. i have been an lpn for a year. not a long time. i know how you feel.

i will...tomorrow. seriously, i am not trying to put you off. i have to go to work...lol and i am up later than i am supposed to be. i have not personally worked in places like that, but go into allnurses home care and agency forums. they'll share with you, also. i have personally met nurses in my personal life and have read many of the posts here in allnurses. some have worried about being attacked on the job, for example. i think one here in allnurses (i do not want to misquote her), but it was something to do with being at home with a pediatric client and the father came home drunk and tried to rape her or something.

or, the other nurses not coming in to relieve on time, and there is no one home with the client. this happened to me, once. i had to leave, and was told that a nurse would be there to relieve me. no one came. of course, i was not going to leave a 5 year old child at home alone. but, i had to wait until the mother arranged for someone else to come in. sometimes, people have to go to unsafe neighborhoods.

basically, i think that you have to look before you leap. what i do is visit the home before i decide to accept the case. i do not have a car, so, i have to see how much time it takes to get there, again, see the family dynamics and if i can handle the client. i usually go when there is another nurse from the agency who may give you the real skinny about the situation under the cuff, so to speak, and how they deal with it. i let them orient me to the case, before i decide to take it on for myself. i'll post more tomorrow, or, you can certainly pm me. i'll answer back, believe me. i know how it is to be a brand new nurse, or a nurse walking into something for the first time. i have been an lpn for a year. not a long time. i know how you feel.

i know what u mean being sent to an uncomfortable/unsafe enviorment. i have been there before n it feels uncomfortable. you do however learn alot w/ this kids. i have learned sooo much from doing private duty to doing pedi. visits. i have had pts that require alot more care than others. but you get your experiance with iv therapy, trachs,g-tubes, tpns, ports, central lines, and etc. if you request to get those kinda pts. i do admitt that i have gotten kinda boring w/ the low skill pts. but you do learn. i tried adult home health visits n the paper wk drove me crazy. working for pedi home health you get to put the hours how you can. example you have a dr's appt. on monday, you can work more hrs durin the week or work on the weekend, depending on when medicaid week starts. soooo i think i will b stayin w/ pedi's for a long while.

Being in the middle of family dynamics can be very uncomfortable at times. For exapmple, my client takes Lasix, so as a pediatric case, it is harder for her to think of going to the bathroom. During naptime, the mother wants her to wear pull ups, so, her nap will not be interrupted by having an accident. The grandmother, however, thinks this is wrong, and will tell me to take them off. I deduced that the child does know when she is awake that she has to go to the bathroom, and waking her up makes her irritable, in fact, she will break out and run...even out of the house when awakened. I told the grandmother that because of the desires of the mother and how the child wakes up sometimes before she is ready, it would be better to let her sleep with the pull ups. People visiting at times may assume that I am to watch their children as well, and I have to tactfully tell them that I am not responsible for them.

What I do like about home care is that I can learn my skills in a less stressful environment and take the time that the patient needs, while doing total nursing. The hospitals are a meat market, and there is really no quality care there. I am debating whether I will fuse over to home care on a permanent basis, but the jury is out for now while I am studying options.

If you are a new LVN I would say try Homecare only for a short time, chose your cases carefully Visit the client first and get a feel for the family dynamic if you can and then decide if you want to work with a particullar cilent. I started Home care years ago but because I felt obligated to stay with my clients I ended up staying with her for 3 years and sometimes more because of that I limmited my experiences as a Nurse. I have tons of experience as a Homecare Nurse some good some bad. I do know the pay is much less than what you can make in an acute Hospital and sometimes more than what you can make in a SNF. If you are good at setting your limmits Homecare can be a good experience. If working with a peds patient you do began to feel like a Nanny.

If you are a new LVN I would say try Homecare only for a short time, chose your cases carefully Visit the client first and get a feel for the family dynamic if you can and then decide if you want to work with a particullar cilent. I started Home care years ago but because I felt obligated to stay with my clients I ended up staying with her for 3 years and sometimes more because of that I limmited my experiences as a Nurse. I have tons of experience as a Homecare Nurse some good some bad. I do know the pay is much less than what you can make in an acute Hospital and sometimes more than what you can make in a SNF. If you are good at setting your limmits Homecare can be a good experience. If working with a peds patient you do began to feel like a Nanny.

I have only been an LPN since July 2006, working in a hospital clinic as my primary job. Home care will be the base of my bedside experience. I did med-surg for 6 weeks as an orientation, but it was so rushed, and also, the LPNs primarily administered medications, not too many other skills. I was afraid to begin working at home, but my agency worked with me. I visit my cases, meet the family, observe the dynamics and environment and make my choices from there. I am very grateful for home care. Many state that med-surg experience should be obtained first, but, as an LPN, most of the cases are stable patients with somewhat predictable outcomes. If worse comes to worse, call 911 immediately if in doubt. So far, homecare has been good to me. I only do it on the weekends, and my agency has offered to send me to witness other cases with experienced nurses so that I can learn more. I don't get paid for sitting for those few hours, but the experience is invaluable to me because I will get to do these things without the same stress. Also, the nurses will make sure that I know what to do because I can then relieve them when they want a day off. The agency benefits because of the same reason...they have obtained another resource.

I think that as I get older, I would probably move on to home care on a permanent basis. It is not as stressful, and I can be a total, devoted nurse to the client...and save my body from damage from working in the facilities.