I'm scared of being alone in a stranger's house!

[Underoo]

I have thought a lot about working in home health. I want to try something completely different from med/surg and want a new setting. I am moving soon and am considering trying out and agency and home health position until I find something solid. When I think about home health, especially in a new area, I worry about going to strangers' homes alone. Has anyone felt this way or had reason to feel this way? Is it smart for me to start off with an agency for my first home health gig? I just know that I need a CHANGE, but I want the flexibility to move on if I absolutely hate it. Help!

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

Do home health agencies in the new area use agency staff? Mine doesn't and I don't know any around here that do.

I go to the ghetto on a regular basis (like neighborhoods where there are shootings in broad daylight at 2pm on a Tuesday) and I don't feel this way.

[Lauren21b]

I used to feel the same way before I started doing home health. But I've learned over the past 4 years that usually the patients and their families are so grateful that you are there to care for their loved ones that they look out for you. I've never, ever been to a patients house where I was scared of the patient. The neighborhood may have made me nervous, but not the patient. But if you can find out where the bad areas of town are, and you can go see those patients first thing in the morning, you should be fine. I find the people that might give me trouble usually don't wake up very early. The only people that don't seem to respect what I'm doing are the younger kids like teenagers. Not all of them. Just some. Just be smart and trust your instincts. I always hide my purse out of sight and take off my wedding ring and put it in my pocket before I get to the bad areas. I carry mace in my pocket, park as close to the patients house as I can, look around really well before I get out of the car, make sure the patient knows you are coming, and head straight for the door. If people talk to me along the way I don't ignore them. I look them in the eye and reply but I don't stop walking. If I ever feel uneasy about the situation or neighborhood-I don't go. My life is more valuable than any paycheck. The company I work for respects that. But I've only felt that way once or twice.