interested in HH

caliotter3 · Sep 24, 2007

You can get a picture of hh by reading many of the threads in this forum. You have enough experience to get started. Some agencies will hire someone right out of school although the norm is to tell someone that they need a minimum of 1-2 yrs acute care experience. The trick is that you should be thoroughly oriented to your duties and the cases you work on, so there is no reason why you can't go into hh at this point in your career. (I met a hh care nurse who had failed the RN boards 3 times, yet the agency hired her and paid her well, after she passed the PN boards. She had absolutely no patient care experience).

You will probably be taking a cut in pay. The rationale is that the reimbursement that the agency gets for each case does not cover their overhead and leave them enough to pay the nurses a lot. They tell you that you need to factor in that you are getting paid that amount to only work with one patient. Now, if you do intermittent visits, (such as would be required for wound care), you may be paid by the visit. In this case, it is to your advantage to have cases clustered close together and learn how to move fast and see as many clients per day as possible. I only ever work shift work, so I cut down on my running around in my car. This also brings up the subject of overtime. In shift work, there can be overtime. Examples would be: You are asked to work a double shift because your relief has called off and there is no replacement; you stay over waiting for a nurse who is late for work or who doesn't show up at all (you must call your agency and inform them and make certain that there is a family member there to take over the care); you get caught up in your patient's change of condition and accompany the patient to the hospital. You may also just be asked to work extra shifts if you want to or you can ask to work extra shifts. It depends on how badly your agency needs to fill case loads and how willing they are to pay the overtime. I have no experience working for a hospital home health dept. I remember another nurse stating that she found that situation less than desirable. I've usually been satisfied working for an agency and have worked private duty for the client with a positive experience also. You can try one or two shifts on your days off from your current job to see how you like it before you take the plunge. Hope you go into hh and find it a good fit for you. Good luck.