home health career

caliotter3 · Apr 22, 2010

You can find much of this info by reading the home health forum. I got into hh at the time I did my hh clinical placement while pursuing a BSN. I was hired by a hh company as an LVN while I was still in school to work on a specific case. I've been in hh ever since with periods of time worked in long term care. I do extended care only. Intermittent visits are too much hassle and noncompensated work time that spills over into a person's home life. Both RNs and LVN/LPNs work in home health with a preponderance of extended care work going to LPNs and intermittent visits going to RNs. Pay is not that great, but only working with one client at a time makes up for it.

anticoagulationurse · Apr 23, 2010

There are more LPNs employed by my company than RNs. The LPN's are paid hourly, RN's are either per diem or salary. I started at $28.50/hour equivalent with 2 years RN experience and 3 years LPN.

I went into HH for the challenge and higher pay.

Love it:

Independence
I call many of the shots and am in the position to be helpful to both the doc and the patient which is a good feeling
Creativity
Hands on
No two days are the same, ever
Being by myself driving around God's creation and getting paid for it
One patient at a time is AWESOME!
Seeing new places and faces, learning new roads, seeing people's homes is neat
Stopping by a store or restaurant when convenient for me on the way from/to here and there
Working about 30% of my day from home (or where ever) - charting
Believe it or not I like the rote computer charting
Learn something new every day
I can work through my lunch and breaks and be done sooner with nobody looking over my shoulder
The money i$ good
Seeing how your care effects positive changes/progress in a patient's life is cool

Not so great:

My supervisors are lame\I don't need a supervisor
Traffic is lame and I don't get paid for the time it takes to sit in it
Answering to a supervisor
Phone tag
Pressure and stress of independence
No breakroom, pretty much have to buy lunch daily
"Holding it" for a long time (I hate to use patient's potty)
Learning to go #2 in a public restroom if need be really sucked
Low mileage reimbursement
Fast food
Higher auto insurance premium when they discover you drive a lot and use your car for work purposes
Meetings are lame and going to the office in general is lame
Nasty, dirty, smelly, creepy homes are out there
Some patients think you are imposing on them to come to their home and provide them care they would otherwise have to go someplace and probably pay for to get :grn:

KateRN1 · Apr 25, 2010

I started out in home health about 20 years ago as a home health aide, been in and out ever since. I enjoy the freedom and autonomy, seeing the outdoors, enjoying the weather (most of the time), but mostly the ability to give patients the time and attention they need to affect positive change in their lives.

Now I'm one of those lame supervisors who expects nurses and other clinicians to do lame things like let me know about missed visits, changes in schedules, issues with patients, and lame things like that. I hate getting a month's worth of missed visit forms handed in without any previous notice by the nurse/aid/therapist. I hate having to call nurses five times a day to complete their charting so that I can submit the RAP for billing. I hate having to track down people who say they're going to do a visit and then magically "forget" or who do labs on the wrong days and insist that *I* write an order to cover their @$$3$. I hate people who whine about being micromanaged but who can't manage their own time well enough to hand in documentation in a timely manner.

However, there are some benefits to being in the office: I get to eat a hot meal when I want to, whether it's leftovers, microwave dinners, or the occasional lunch out with a co-worker. I can drink tea all day long and not have to worry how far the next clean bathroom is. I love to teach and now I get to spend all day trying to teach people how to manage their cases more effectively. I get to put out fires with patients and staff, coordinate care, arrange for services and DME from trusted providers, rather than relying on someone else to do it and it never gets done.

I haven't set foot in the hospital as a nurse in almost five years and think I'll probably stay in home health for the rest of my career.

muffinCNA15 · Apr 26, 2010

wow! thanks so much for all of your replies!!

i can't imagine working in a hospital or in a facility because i have been a private caregiver/CNA for the past 6 years. one of the home care companies i work for is opening a CNA/Home Health Aide school next month, and I am wondering if I should go ahead and sign up for the HHA course. I don't really see how it's different from what I do now, but I'd like to work in hospice and all the job postings I've seen require HHA. I've done hospice as a private caregiver and as a CNA through home care, but I've never worked in home HEALTH.

alot of my clients have home health services--the nurse comes 2 times a week, physical therapy 2 times usually and the home health aide comes 2-3 times a week. some of the nurses come in like a tornado and leave alot of stuff behind (trash etc) and some are very calm and professional.

I am used to the car issue--I use my care for home care and I am used to having to always eat out or bring food to work and hope it lasts me though the day. But I really love the one on one interaction and I can't imagine how people are able to provide such quality care when they have more than 1 patient.

28/hr for LVN sounds great. The LVN's in my area start at $25 at a SNF.