HOME HEALTH.... is it really worth it?

[nursynurseRN]

I still have not been able to decide if HH is really work it? 60 dollars per follow up visit, max 5 visits a day. Drive everywhere, in the heat, cold, and rain. More oil changes, more gas and more to maintain on my car. Work 5 days a week, be done by 4-5pm every day. Or work 3-4, 12 hours shifts a week? I know that this has been an ongoing topic but I want to make the most out of my time. In the hospital I feel so stuck. I cant leave anywhere or much of anything except make a phone call or two on my down time if I need to take of buisness. HH is great and gives me that great flexibilty that I crave. What worries me the most is how long will my car last driving so much? I will make about the same as I do at the hospital but I dont waste my car driving one round trip. So I should technically make more money doing HH right? the other thing is the whole stability factor. I work in a large county hospital, and I would move to a small HH agency. Howstable are HH agencies? Are hospitals more stable as far as census and closing down? The agency I work for is a older agnecy but this particular office is new and they barely have a census of 25. They offered me a fulltime position but I dont know whether to take it full time. I currently have one part time position and 2 perdiem positions. One per diem is at a hospital and the other is HH. I think I have a good balance now, but the days I have home health I feel like I can stay up late with my husband and it feels more freeing then when I have to work a 12. I feel like I need more prep. when I work a full 12 hr day ****, so I sleep early and stress if the baby wakes up in the middle of the night. What are your opinons on the stability, money, and overall HH fulltime job thing. Any input is appreciated.

[missangela]

That's funny I have been wondering the same thing. I'm a new RN (less than 2 years experience) and all I've done is home health and hospice. I get a lot of crap from older nurses for not doing any hospital / acute care (which seems to be the staple of getting hired anywhere else). So I do tend to go back and forth in my mind if I'm doing the right thing. I'm a full time salaried RN for a dual hospice/home health.

Pro's I've had:

-I honestly like the freedom of scheduling your own day and the ability to give really good care one pt at a time.

-I'm expected to see 4-5 pts per day, or less if it's very far. Pretty much anything I can cram in my 8 hour salary time. Which is reasonable.

-I get a musical soundtrack between patient visits (radio or pandora).

-You can youtube procedures before you go into a patient home.

-Easy to run a quick errand between visits which is nice. Especially my Starbucks runs.

-It's interesting and sometimes fun going into different peoples homes (in my opinion). I'm in LA so I can be in Beverly Hills mansions, Beach houses or straight up in the ghetto (lol). It varies day to day.

-I'm with a stable home health agency that's been in the game for at least a decade and always has >150 pt census at any given time with solid contacts. (Ideally try to find a dependable agency based on years of operation, the average length of stay of the staff and their happiness.

-I get salary, benefits and mileage reimbursement. Which can add up $$

Con's I've had:

-I'm in LA/OC area so I do sit in some of the worse traffic you'll ever experience.

-I'm on my ass A LOT. So I walk 30-45 mins at least 5 days/wk to prevent DVT. I'm dead serious, I'm afraid of getting DVT or getting jello legs.

-I feel pretty much trapped with my honda civic hybrid. Fuel efficiency is a must to survive in this field. I do see some of my other RN school friends who are in ER driving BMW's and Lexus's which is nice (not a necessity though!)

-If you do on call, it's extremely easy to get burnt out. Some agencies force you to do rotating on call if you want the full time position with benefits.

-I have to furnish my own assessment supplies: BP Cuff, pulse ox, stethoscope, thermometer and other things that comply with bag technique. I keep a surplus of spare supplies, admit packets. I made my own office with drawers & all in the trunk of my car. (That may vary with different agencies.)

-CHARTING IS THE DEVIL. Oasis-C is a 22 page ***** that almost all the time, runs me wayyy after hours on my own time off. Gets pretty overwhelming.

I guess it really depends on you and what will make you happy in the long run. I like what I've been doing so far. :)

[nursynurseRN]

Thanks so much for your pros and cons list. Unfortunately they just hired a FT nurse at the HH agency I work for so it looks like I took too long to think about taking it FT. It has been a few months since they offered it to me but I havent been able to make a choice. I cant decide if having a FT HH position out weighs a FT Hospital job. There are so many pros and cons to each. o well at least I can still do it on the side for extra cash. I want to leave bedside for something more laxed... hopefully I find my niche soon.

[adamsmom2]

I was in HH for 2 years but I was seeing 8-10 Pts a day and had to see Pts almost every weekend. So I had no flexibility in my job. Not to mention paperwork every night. I left and now work in a personal care home. No homework and off most weekends.