Inadequate orientation

I was recently hired as a per diem RN at a home health agency. I am new to home health. I have been working in a SNF for a little over one year, so I'm still a fairly new nurse.

The company promised me orientation of 1-2 weeks or "as long as you need to feel comfortable". They also said they'd have a nurse go with me on my first visits to make sure it was going well for me.

Well, I got 1.5 days in the office for the Oasis and general computer documentation and then I got only a half a day shadowing another nurse doing revisits.

I did not get the opportunity to shadow a nurse doing a SOC visit. I really wanted to see that process, since the whole Oasis documentation seemed very overwhelming, writing orders, care plans, determining need and frequency of services.

Another problem is that as part of my hiring agreement the agency said they'd arrange for me to have a physical exam before I could see patients. I kept reminding them that I needed to complete this, and they kept saying they were working on getting the company to authorize it. They encouraged me to have my own doctor give me a physical (at my own expense).

So they called me and asked me to take a SOC patient in a few days. I felt uneasy about it since I don't feel I had adequate training. I initially said that I'd take the patient, only if I could go out and shadow a nurse doing a SOC before my own SOC visit in a few days. They said not a problem.

Well the next day I call the office, asking them who I will be shadowing that day. They said that none of the nurses want to have anyone shadow them, they do not want to be teachers. So there is no one I can shadow before I do my own SOC for the first time.

At this point, the office starts to tell me more about the SOC patient they want me to do. I told them that I was not comfortable with the lack of training, plus they never authorized me to get my physical exam as required by their policy before I could see patients. I told them this company was not a good fit for me, and I will not put my license in jeopardy seeing a patient when I don't feel comfortable with the the SOC process. I told them I will not see the patient and I was terminating my employment with them.

No real question here, just a vent about my disappointing experience. It seems like very short training periods are common in home health. Sigh.