Interview question

Don't use it in the context of experience. Maybe in the context of exposure to the role of the home health nurse and how it's driven your interest in home health care.

Think of it as a nurse coming in and saying their husband has diabetes and has been on dialysis. It doesn't count as nursing experience and could work against you depending on how they perceive it.

Thanks for replying! I was thinking it could be used as experience because the mom/nurse has actually performed the hands on skills on a regular basis since her child was born. The child does not get 24 hour nursing so the parents have to assume all care when the home health agency nurse is not there.

You could say that you're ready to have those skills checked off.

(Although apparently some agencies are sending nurses out before checking off skills and little orientation)

That sounds like a good way of telling the employer that the skills are met without mentioning anything else. Thanks!

I wouldn't mention anything about the health of my family, only what skills you have but not why you learned them.

But, that said, I would seriously reconsider trying to get the position if your home life nessesitates frequent unplanned time off. Its not fair to those you would be working with, or your client population. If you can't be regularly reliable it seems like it would not be a good fit. Not to mention the possibility of being fired for excessive absence.

Home health nursing is probably one of the most flexible nursing jobs around so that would probably be the best fit for this mom. Her child is very stable and his health shouldn't affect her having a prn job. I'm just thinking that mentioning the nurse has a special needs child MAY lead an employer to assume there will be problems with attendance or other issues later. On the other hand if this agency doesn't see this nurse as an asset, maybe it's best she not work there anyway. I would think that an agency who provides nursing to help families of special needs children would understand more than any other employer the struggles these parents have. This nurse could help other parents greatly and knows firsthand the ins and outs of caring for a special needs child. Not sure what kind of advice to give here.

Thanks for letting me know that. Maybe I'm over thinking this but my degree in Human Resources leads me to think that employers care more about profits than people. I really want this nurse to get the job but I'm not sure what to tell her. I even mentioned that since she personally knows several other families that get services from this agency and knows some of the nurses that are employed there, that eventually the agency might find out about her situation anyway so why not mention it at the interview? I hate the politics of business but I always think that honesty is the best policy. If it bothers the agency that much, then it's their loss and why work for them anyway. There are other employers out there that care more about their employees and patients. Problem is, there are not many other pediatric home health agencies in this area that are willing to hire new nurses without work experience.

Oh, I didn't realize you were asking for someone else.

I don't know why a special needs child would need their mother to call in sick more than a regular child who doesn't have prearranged nursing care for their unexpected illnesses and injuries.

Oh, I didn't realize you were asking for someone else.

I don't know why a special needs child would need their mother to call in sick more than a regular child who doesn't have prearranged nursing care for their unexpected illnesses and injuries.

The op specifically said that having a special needs child would mean more unexpected abcenses.

The op specifically said that having a special needs child would mean more unexpected abcenses.

OP specifically said..

...since having a special needs child can necessitate extra time off from work.

Emphasis mine. Extra time off work doesn't automatically equate

unexpected absences

And I don't why they would, as in why she should reconsider a position (and there was no mention of hours/call) based on your assumption of

..can't be regularly reliable.. And ..excessive absences.

That's why I'm not sure what's best to do in this situation. An employee is not obligated to tell her future employer any personal details, but in this case it might actually help this mom/nurse get the job or it could backfire. I personally would never want to reveal anything to my employer that may be viewed negatively such as being a single mom and having two preschoolers (I'm not a single mom nor do I have little ones but I'm just using that as an example.) You never know how the employer will view that information. Some special needs children are in and out of the hospital a lot and when home health nurses don't show up, the parents many times have to call in to work last minute. I'm not saying that is the case with this mom, but I'm just saying that an employer may THINK that will be a problem and not hire her. Hiring employees costs money. Employers may not want to hire someone they believe will not remain a long term employee or someone that's not reliable. I guess this mom can say she's comfortable to check off her skills, but what if they ask how she got her training and it's her first job? Might I mention also that this mom has said that this is the job she really wants. She says that fulltime and 8-5 Mon-Fri jobs are not for her. She just wants to work a couple of days a week. She says prn in home health is much more flexible and feels this is what she is meant to do. She wants to take care of other special needs children.