Home Health Newbee

[tangobango]

Hi. I am a critical care nurse that is going to transition to home health care in Florida. Any information that would be helpful would be appreciated. Like other helpful web sites, tips, tricks, & things to avoid. Stuff to have on hand. I'll be per diem in the Tampa Bay area. Have not decided which company to work for yet. Also, the tests that need to be taken prior. What do they usually consist of besides OSHA, ect. Thanks in advance. Leslie.

[Melinurse]

Hi. I am a critical care nurse that is going to transition to home health care in Florida. Any information that would be helpful would be appreciated. Like other helpful web sites, tips, tricks, & things to avoid. Stuff to have on hand. I'll be per diem in the Tampa Bay area. Have not decided which company to work for yet. Also, the tests that need to be taken prior. What do they usually consist of besides OSHA, ect. Thanks in advance. Leslie.

You'll love the change of pace. Always carrry extra wound care supplies in a bag with you. Hand sanitizer is a must but most companies will provide for you. At the top of the screen click on the specialty tag and then on nursing specialties. As you scroll down there is a forum for home health nurses with alot of good info. OHSA, HIPPA, safety training will be provided. The worst thing about home health is the condition of some homes you'll go into. My favorite is a dressing change I am supposed to do for a patient whose home is disgusting to put it nicely. Now the dressing change is supposed to be " sterile ". So most of the time you do the best you can with what you have and alot of improvision. It is a really awesome job and the relationships you develop are just priceless. I've loved every minute of my experiences with home care. Any tests will be basically the same as what you have done for hospital work. There may be others depending on state and company.

Here's a thread with some good home health info on it. It is here on in the general nursing discussion.

Home Care vs. Med-surg

[jnette, ASN, EMT-I]

As suggested above, reading through some of the threads and posts in the Home Health forum here will give you some good insight and plenty of tips.

Welcome to Home Health.. nursing's best kept secret !!! :)

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do !

Let us know how things go for you, and feel free to come back often and ask all the questions you want !

[Southern Fried RN]

Old ER nurse now doing home care for about 3 years....I'll never go back to the hospital!!!

The best pointers I can give you are:

Do your paperwork daily! Don’t get behind/ put it off till tomorrow….it’s a monster if it gets away from you.

Stay organized!!! Plan your day the night before and stick to your schedule. If you plan an hour for each visit, usually you will run ahead of schedule.

Never give a patient an exact time for a visit to start! Always give them a time frame-“I’ll be there to see you between 9-11”

Never give out your personal cell number to patients unless they are “long time patients” that have proven they will not abuse it.

Approach home care just like you would a “regular” job. Start on time. You have a lot of autonomy and it’s easy to put things off. That is the slippery slope in home care!!!!