is home health good idea?

[Ms.RN]

I havent done any home health nursing yet, just long term care and subacute care. The reason I didnt try home health is because there might be too much risks involved to go to patients home and provide care to them, like client might not be satisfied with care etc. Can someone explain what kind of work are involved with home health care nursing? Do you think its good idea to try home health if I've never done it?

[tcvnurse, BSN, RN]

Well you'll never know unless you try, right?

Home health is mostly about two things: Assessments and Teaching. I worked as a case manager full time doing home health for 6 years. I had lots of ortho patients ( s/p joint replacements or traumatic fracture, pin care etc) cardiac surgery patients-- this was back when CABG patients had a gigantic incision with staples from groin to ankle. I got to remove those staples, every other one :).

We also got medical patients,God did we ever. Think about teaching someone what it really means to have CHF or diabetes, all the lifestyle changes, activity, diet and nutrition, not to mention daily weights or accuchecks.

I saved more patients lives in home care than I have in my acute care unit. I have found little old ladies sprawled on the floor unconscious, found someone with a heart rate of 35, someone with acute respiratory failure, and someone with advancing sepsis.

I have learned more about wound care than I ever thought I'd know. I have wound vaccced literally every part of the body including the rectum. ( That was near impossible, but it got done.) I've taught 80 year old men how to manage their new ostomy, and helped them realize their life wasn't over yet .

I've had to call family members to tell them that Dad is living in a roach infested house, and I've seen peoplle living in palatial mansions on the beach be miserable and lonely in their old age.

I have found one person dead, obviously in her sleep, and helped her son through the process of calling the police and filling out the paper work.

Home health is some of the hardest, most rewarding nursing I have ever done. Because the job doesn't end at 5pm. BUT-- you will learn things about yourself, and others that will amaze and inspire you and make you understand what it truly means to be human.

[SandraCVRN]

My friend left the OR after 10 years with little to no floor experience to do home health...she loves it!! If you need a change or are just looking for something different give it a chance. Good luck!!!

[kanders]

I was a home health care nurse manager for the last 8 yrs of my career. I (wrongly) thought that changing from hospital nursing to home care would be an ideal way to slow down my work as I was getting a little older and running up and down halls was getting to be difficult, but....imagine seeing a pt. in a 12 ft. camping trailer and drawing blood on a 70 yr. old man without veins and NO backup or changing a dressing in 90 degree heat with only a fan or finding an 80 yr. old patient dying when you get there or taking your extra fan and a set of old sheets out to make a bed in a poverty patients home or shooing the chicken out of the house before starting, or teaching a teenager to manage his surgars, or teaching a new mama how to nurse her baby or eating cookies with an old, lonely lady that had looked forward to your visit since the last one. It was wonderful!!! I miss it every day! You will LOVE it.

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

I didn't like home health at all. Of course some of my patients were lovely but there were some who would answer the door naked...drugs all over every surface of the tables; ugly dogs nipping at my ear when I was trying to assess a wound, and a crazy woman who like to make traps in her yard to catch things. The home office knew but didn't bother to warn me. I was 'caught' in one of those traps and nearly broke my arm. I prefer the order of working in a facility.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

moved to our home health nursing forum.