homecare nursing

orrnlori, RN · Apr 8, 2004

Nothing I can think of.

nightingale, RN · Apr 8, 2004

Hospital Nursing.

Jay-Jay, RN · Apr 9, 2004

1) Not having to do shifts!

2) Being able to use own judgement

3) Not having admin. breathing down my neck/watching over my shoulder

4) One-on-one patient contact, with no call bells ringing

5) Being outdoors (okay, in my car!) in nice weather instead of trapped inside a building

6) Variety of patients - from 9 days old to 90 years! You get a lot of cancer/cheno/palliative, but also a lot of reasonably healthy patients to balance it out.

7) I can take the pooch with me to work, and no one complains (as long as she stays in the car.)

8) Being able to organize/plan my patient load and day as I see fit (within reason...that 8 am IV call still has to be done at 8 am, whether I feel like getting up or not!)

interested · Apr 9, 2004

Nothing I can think of.

Would you be influenced if you would be working with physicians who were very supportive?

orrnlori, RN · Apr 9, 2004

I might be, I very much like some of the surgeons I work with. But when I think of home health care I think of the stories I've heard from nurses who did it for a while. Their stories are full of vivid recollections of cockroaches and other vermin in patient's homes, and there's even one who told about being charged by an angry male hog on a patient's front porch. The home health nurse my mom had for awhile was very nice, but I didn't see where she did much of anything having to do with nursing so it looked like a very boring job (if I wasn't swatting at flying/crawling things). I guess I've just heard the worst stories. I also wouldn't feel comfortable in people's homes. In the hospital, I'm in my territory and feel very relaxed. Home health just doesn't pay enough or have the kind of benefits we have in the hospital. Although I will say that the post from Jay-Jay made it sound very very inviting. I'd love to see sunshine once in a while.

gerinurse10 · Apr 9, 2004

I've always loved homecare nursing. I went back to hospital nursing (child psych) for one year while I was still doing homecare and it was very difficult to go back into the 4 walls. I felt like a caged animal. With homecare you are on your own, if I feel like stopping at the nearest mall I do then I get back into doing my visits. If I want to get all my visits done in the morning and go home by lunch I do. I end up doing my paperwork at night after the kids go to bed. So all in all I love homecare. I do use my skills. You would be amazed on how sick patients are getting. The hospitals ship them out much earlier then they used to. Homecare nurses have the best assessment skills you will ever see. I think everyone should try it. You will be surprised what you find!!!