Hospital Home Health vs. Private Home Health Agencies

[starmickey03, MSN, RN]

I previously worked with an awesome home health agency but left because it got really slow in the summer and my checks were close to nothing. I went back to the hospital and I hate it just as I did before so I'm looking to go back into home health.

The hospital system that I work for has a home health department and the hours are M-F, 08-1630 with weekend/on call rotation. The agency I previously worked for was M-F, 08-1700 but we made our own schedules so some days I'd start at 09 and be done by noon. We also had after hours on call but it was only once every six weeks (I never got called in) and no weekends because we had weekend nurses.

So my question is has anyone ever worked both hospital and independent agency home health? How are they different/same? I'm assuming that hospital based is more structured meaning I won't be making my own schedule and will have to follow a set schedule put together by office staff.

???

ETA: this time I will not leave the hospital completely. I'll stay on a prn basis in order to serve as a backup for when the HH census gets low.

[caliotter3]

As with any other employer parameter, one can not make blanket statements. You might be able to find two such entities that are literally run in exactly the same manner, as well as finding two such entities that are as different as night and day. That is why it would be beneficial to have a "discovery" meeting/phone call with potential employers to find out about generalities. If you do this by phone, you can remain anonymous.