Home Health offer fair??

Sirene77 · May 21, 2015

I was misinformed! I just found out that they do give $150.00/month gas allowance. I'm going to go ahead and take the job. I hope it works out for me! Any suggestions and/or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Libby1987 · May 22, 2015

4 weeks for a new grad will only ready you for task oriented care, and it's still short.

Observe for anything outside of normal baseline for patient and/or changed, you will have to over report until you have stronger assessment and decision making skills.

Read up on chronic illness mgmt, pain mgmt and wound care principles and modalities.

It'll take you longer to become comfortable than you're expecting, stick with it, it takes a couple of years to become competent and efficient.

ETA There are some posters in the home health forum who have outlined great organizational tips. Nutella has done so just recently.

JustMeRN · May 23, 2015

Hi :) I have received an offer for a position in home health and I am not too sure that it's all that fair. For those of you with experience in home health, can you share your insight on this situation? I am a new grad in Arizona. Also, the position requires a bilingual RN (I speak Spanish/English). Thank you! The offered base salary is about $4,000/year lower than the average (entry level) for my area. I do get additional compensation if I go over 30 points a week. There is NO compensation for mileage and I have to get my own liability insurance. They do offer medical insurance after 60 days, and 10 days vacation and 5 sick days after 90 days. Orientation is 3-4 weeks. I know as a new grad my job options are few--and I do need the experience, but is this a good deal??

3-4 weeks orientation is a huge red flag! My agency won't hire new grads, and orientation for nurses with experience lasts 2 months! I hate to think it, but I can only imagine you are going to become quickly overwhelmed. Be careful, because you are going to be put in situations you don't understand, and there is no one standing next to you to answer your questions.

I love home health, but would never reccomend it to a new grad in a million years. I would reccomend a couple years in acute care or SNF / LTC first to develope skills and assessment abilities before wading in to home health.

Libby1987 · May 23, 2015

3-4 weeks orientation is a huge red flag! My agency won't hire new grads, and orientation for nurses with experience lasts 2 months! I hate to think it, but I can only imagine you are going to become quickly overwhelmed. Be careful, because you are going to be put in situations you don't understand, and there is no one standing next to you to answer your questions.
I love home health, but would never reccomend it to a new grad in a million years. I would reccomend a couple years in acute care or SNF / LTC first to develope skills and assessment abilities before wading in to home health.

Agree. We have had one successful new grad but she was under a year of orientation, a solid month of shadowing then close supervison and support. She was/is particularly sharp, bold and high energy. 4 weeks is completely inadequate and not allowed in California.

Sirene77 · Jun 2, 2015

Thank you for your input. I did accept the offer and today was my first day. I was grossly misinformed about my orientation during the interview!!! I thought maybe since I had some hospital experience (6weeks-- terminated because not compatible w/ preceptor and there was no option to get another or to transfer) that I would try it out and see how it worked out after a month. There seems to be some kinks in communication between recruiter and DON. They have no new grad training program. I would only get 6 DAYS with another RN and then I would be on my own!!! I was so disappointed!! Also, my area would be huge and some distances can be up to 45 minutes one way! aaaaand I will have 5-6 patients/day patients from the get-go! The DON said I would be expected to take on anything from the start-- that I wouldn't start slow and work my way up to a full load.

In my heart, I really want to do this and give it a try, but realistically, I know 6 days orientation is a HUGE red flag. I have been applying to hospitals and have had some interviews, but no offers-- either because of my previous experience and termination, or they misread my resume and thought I had more RN experience. I am so disheartened right now:(

And to top it off, I come home today and explain to my husband the situation (he is really depending on me to find a job NOW) I could see on his face that he was so disappointed and I feel so guilty--like I let him down. I told him I cannot in good conscience, continue with this job. I tried so hard to explain to him why, but I don;t think he really understands. He thinks I'm being too picky. I told him that I don;t have the skills or experience required for this job, and my driving area is much larger than I expected (or was made to think). My heart is first and foremost in my home and family. I am just going to have to keep praying and trusting that God will work things out.

I really do want to be a nurse. I would LOVE to do HH, but I feel it would be best if I gained at least a year in hospital experience before considering it. Also, I would be more choosy in what agency I worked for.

Thank you for letting me vent a little. I will keep my hopes up and trust that there are better opportunities around the corner:)

Libby1987 · Jun 2, 2015

I'm sorry to hear this :-(

If you try with another agency, the driving distance is the least of your worries, extra driving won't result in med errors but completely inadequate orientation will. And 30 points to start? That's too many patients/visits for a new nurse let alone a new grad to juggle. And I don't know what to say about the lack of mileage reimbursement, I'm surprised that isn't illegal.

I work for an agency that is providing months of orientation for our new nurses. We didn't used to because historically we had only experienced nurses apply so they had the nursing part down but with a new trend of non hospital experienced nurses we have extended our orientation. Shadowing for a month or so then close supervision with just a few revisits or one admission with all day to work through it. They're out there, hopefully you can find one.

Sirene77 · Jun 2, 2015

I'm sorry to hear this :-(
If you try with another agency, the driving distance is the least of your worries, extra driving won't result in med errors but completely inadequate orientation will. And 30 points to start? That's too many patients/visits for a new nurse let alone a new grad to juggle. And I don't know what to say about the lack of mileage reimbursement, I'm surprised that isn't illegal.
I work for an agency that is providing months of orientation for our new nurses. We didn't used to because historically we had only experienced nurses apply so they had the nursing part down but with a new trend of non hospital experienced nurses we have extended our orientation. Shadowing for a month or so then close supervision with just a few revisits or one admission with all day to work through it. They're out there, hopefully you can find one.

Thank you :) I appreciate your advice. You are absolutely right--a med error is much worse than a 45 minute commute one-way! I will keep my eyes peeled for a better deal in the future. I have learned a big lesson from this experience.

caliotter3 · Jun 2, 2015

You would probably find that an extended care case with another agency would be an easier situation to adjust to until you have established a buffer zone to 'breathe' in the home setting. Routine care for a long term, stable patient on a shift basis. One nursing note for the shift along with any supporting documentation. Yes, it might be mundane, but it is a job and income, which is what I read that you need from your post. Good luck.

Sirene77 · Jun 2, 2015

You would probably find that an extended care case with another agency would be an easier situation to adjust to until you have established a buffer zone to 'breathe' in the home setting. Routine care for a long term, stable patient on a shift basis. One nursing note for the shift along with any supporting documentation. Yes, it might be mundane, but it is a job and income, which is what I read that you need from your post. Good luck.

I have considered this. I will keep my eyes peeled for an opportunity:) Thank you!

caliotter3 · Jun 2, 2015

You can do as many or as few shifts per week with one, or more, clients, as you wish. When you are ready to broaden your horizons, you can arrange your schedule so that you can start doing visit work for part of the week, to get used to it in a smaller scale. Then, down the road, you can decide how you want to manage your work, as it suits you. Some nurses work a full time visit schedule as well as a full time extended care schedule. Easier done with the extended care case on the night shift. For the ambitious!

fnp3 · Jul 8, 2015

Get a LTC job to start off. Should be easy to find and get hired. Get your experience and then maybe get into rehab or hosp. I really don't think it's safe for you, your license, or the patient until you get some experience. Do you know how to change or apply a wound vac? Do you know how to do lab draws? Do you know how to complete a sterile dressing changes for a picc line? etc.......Hang in there and keep praying. You'll make it. Just stop worrying about the future and concentrate on the next step you need to take today.