any ideas on the 'real' hours of hospice home health nurse?

Isabelle49 · Mar 25, 2011

I find it strange that you would have 20 patient and an average of 14 visits per week. I work in home health, so I am not well versed in hospice, but I have heard that there is a minimum amount of time that must be spent on a visit and this is required by medicare/state. I had interviewed once with a hospice and was told visits were a minimum of 45 minutes. You will have a fair amount of paperwork to do and may spend a fair amount of time doing it in your off time. I didn't want to work hospice, since I really didn't like the idea of having to go out in the middle of the night, who knows where, and I can't see well in the dark. Luck to you.

ninaricci · Mar 26, 2011

thank you for the reply. Yes, I have to agree, going out at night is definitely one of the negatives.

Isabelle49 · Mar 27, 2011

Nina, if you do go into hospice or home health, the one most important piece of equipment you will want is a good GPS. I don't know how I survived the first 5 years without one. I once had a manager who joked that I was like a bird and that I could find anyone's home. If she only knew how my stomach churned while I was on the road and didn't know what direction I was going in or what road I was on (seems some think it's funny to remove street signs and addresses).

Brittney F. · May 24, 2011

I'm am currently trying to apply for a Home Health/Hospice position. I need some information..any information that may be helpful in deciding if this is what I want to do, such as hours/holidays/pay difference from hospital,etc. I can't find much online about it so I'm a little stuck. Any advice/info would be welcome please :)

caliotter3 · May 25, 2011

I do continuous care hospice at a staffing agency and like it when I get the shifts. Full time visits would be a horse of a slightly different ancestry, I suppose. If I were you I would give it six months trial. Perhaps you could take the other job and then make a decision down the line. Always best to keep looking for that next perch. Good luck.

berube · May 26, 2011

the case load you are describing sounds appropriate for hospice but not home health,,,HH nurses manage anywhere from 20-30+ pts with the quota of 30 units a week......or are you talking strickly about hospice?

Home Health Columnist / Guide · May 27, 2011

That's the case load I managed in Hospice--- which allows for interdisciplinary meetings and periodic stress debriefing sessions.

momcats3 · May 27, 2011

I worked in hospice for 7 years, at two different agencies in two different states. Both non-profit. I ended up doing visits/office stuff from about 8:30 to 4:00 - 5:00 and yes, I ended up doing my charting at home, on my time. There was just no other way to get the computer charting done. No matter what I did or how I planned, it always worked out that I had to do charting and/or paperwork (recerts, mostly) at home. I ended up working about 60 hrs/week, and getting paid for 40. It was one of the reasons I left - I just got too burned out. And my co-workers in both agencies had to do the same, so it wasn't just me. Everyone resented it, but did it because they loved the work. I loved the job, it was the time involved that got to me. And I don't have children....

Good luck, though, whatever you decide.

mc3:nurse:

R*Star*RN, BSN, RN · May 28, 2011

I just started a position where the official hours are from 8a-5p mon thru friday with one sat a month and need to be on call for at least 4 holidays a year. There is PRN staff to cover sick calls, and also weekend/night staff but my position is during the day.

From what I've seen in my agency overtime depnds on the person. If you don't have issues with time management as it is, then once you are settled into the job you are able to do things in the alloted time (usually). Some people have decided that 10 hour days work better, some people work 12.

Where I work it's done like this: If your day was only routine visits you'd have 5. Less for a day which case conference falls on, less if you have OASIS review with quality control, less if we have an agency meeting, etc. Of course admits and recerts and discharges are weighed more heavily than routine visits.

I am still on orientation so I don't have my own caseload yet but 20-25 seems to be the norm. I've been doing joint visits with a mentor and we usually get done seeing patients by about 2 on a good day and 3:30-4p on a longish day. The rest of the time is spent doing leftover charting, calling doctors, putting in time and travel, etc. Of course the nice part is that you can do some of this from home or wherever and don't need to go back to the office. Some days will be shorter due to whatever and some will be longer but it usually evens out to 40 hours a week.

Of course every agency is different.