Is it possible to be able to see 8-10 patients a day?

RubyRN,CHPN · Nov 19, 2010

I would figure on driving an average of 20 minutes between pt's. for even a well organized agency. I would figure in town at least 7 visits a day for an 8 - 10 hour day with the ability to get your paperwork done one time and communicate to physicians, team mebers,etc. You want to have some time at the end of the day for yourself, right? Your friend sounds like she has a pretty good gig. The only concern I have is really, figure at least 20-30 minutes to take VS, provide teaching, assess and monitor systems, draw blood, do dressing changes, document on wounds, whatever is on POC etc. Are these 10-15 visits done over the course of an 8 hour day?

AnnemRN · Nov 19, 2010

I'm considering a job in home health that pays per visit. Roughly $40/visit, SOC $80, and so forth. Full time with benefits is 35 visits a week. A friend of mine works for them, but is based in an ALF, not doing home visits and does 10-15 visits a day...so needless to say she's bringing home $4000+ every two weeks. My question is....is this possible with home visits too? Or am I dreaming too big? Thanks in advance for any thoughts!!! :)

Patient acuity is very high, so I can't imagine being able to see 8 to 10 patients in an 8 hour day. My agency has me seeing 6 to 7 patients a day and it is grueling work.

Does the agency weight the visits? Do they factor drive time into your day? My agency doesn't and it creates quite a problem. You need to know that SOC's, ROC's and discharges of Medicare patient's is very time consuming and even more so if you are drawing labs, changing wound vac's or having to do a lot of teaching.

Most days there is no way I can finish in an eight hour day so, I am compensated by my agency paying overtime. Unfortunately, when you are paid per visit you will have to eat any extra time spent.

UFEDRN · Nov 19, 2010

My friend is very lucky being that she is at one ALF all day long. The patients are usually post op teaching, insulin/accuchecks, weights, etc....but the nurses in the homes usually are managing a LPN (who is IV certified, does insulins, dressings, and so forth) and HHA, doing the starts, recerts, etc. I don't believe the home nurses are doing as many of the dressing changes and insulins. My hopes are if I can get in and make a decent amount I'll eventually be able to get a position like my friend has and then I'll be able to make more.

AnnemRN · Nov 19, 2010

If you're doing a start of care on a patient who has a wound then you will do the wound care in addition to the documentation which includes measuring & taking pictures of the wound. Many times, I admit patients to service and draw ordered labs too. There are days where I have 2 SOC's and 4 revisits which can be ROC's, DC's etc. It all makes for a very hectic day.

I'm just trying to give you a clearer picture.

twokidsmom,rn · Nov 19, 2010

I see 6-8 a day. I am new to HH, have been working as a HH case manager for 3 months now. I really like it but some days are extremely hectic. Just when you thought you had a nice day planned the office throws in a SOC then it gets really crazy because I still have to see the pts I was planning on seeing. I am still learning time management and all the forms and paperwork it takes. All in all I like it much better than in the hosp.

The thing is when your sick you still have to see some pts then push some off till the next day. But when I worked in the hosp you had more people that can cover for you. It is great when you have many pts at one ALF, no travel time and you get to know the staff and keep you informed of what the pt has been up to.

UFEDRN · Nov 20, 2010

If you're doing a start of care on a patient who has a wound then you will do the wound care in addition to the documentation which includes measuring & taking pictures of the wound. Many times, I admit patients to service and draw ordered labs too. There are days where I have 2 SOC's and 4 revisits which can be ROC's, DC's etc. It all makes for a very hectic day.
I'm just trying to give you a clearer picture.

I really appreciate your insight. I don't want to make the jump without really understanding what I may be getting into. The way this company works is that a SOC counts for 2, a regular visit counts for 1, recerts are 1.5, IV stuff is 1.5, resumptions are 1.5...and so on and so forth. So I was hoping to do between 40-50 to really make a good amount. From what I've been told the company has plenty of work...in fact, they've been telling the marketing people to turn business away because they don't have enough staff. I'm awaiting a final interview with the DON and then I need to tell her if I want full time or start out PRN with some weekend work. I've thought I should try it out first, but then I thought I should just go for it. I'm young enough now to work really hard and make some money. So any other words of wisdom are appreciated.

UFEDRN · Nov 20, 2010

I see 6-8 a day. I am new to HH, have been working as a HH case manager for 3 months now. I really like it but some days are extremely hectic. Just when you thought you had a nice day planned the office throws in a SOC then it gets really crazy because I still have to see the pts I was planning on seeing. I am still learning time management and all the forms and paperwork it takes. All in all I like it much better than in the hosp.
The thing is when your sick you still have to see some pts then push some off till the next day. But when I worked in the hosp you had more people that can cover for you. It is great when you have many pts at one ALF, no travel time and you get to know the staff and keep you informed of what the pt has been up to.

As a fellow mom...do you feel like it's flexible? Do you feel like you have time for your kids or that you're working more at home? Thanks for your input!

twokidsmom,rn · Nov 20, 2010

With HH I have alot of homework. But I am able to set up my visits around my kids schedules. And I only work one weekend a month. I use to work nights and everyother weekend, that was hard on me and my family. But I do take my work home with me. And I end up getting upset and worried about my patients more so than I did at the hosp. Feel free to leave me a PM if you have any other questions.

AnnemRN · Nov 20, 2010

I really appreciate your insight. I don't want to make the jump without really understanding what I may be getting into. The way this company works is that a SOC counts for 2, a regular visit counts for 1, recerts are 1.5, IV stuff is 1.5, resumptions are 1.5...and so on and so forth. So I was hoping to do between 40-50 to really make a good amount. From what I've been told the company has plenty of work...in fact, they've been telling the marketing people to turn business away because they don't have enough staff. I'm awaiting a final interview with the DON and then I need to tell her if I want full time or start out PRN with some weekend work. I've thought I should try it out first, but then I thought I should just go for it. I'm young enough now to work really hard and make some money. So any other words of wisdom are appreciated.

It sounds like they weight the visits which is good for you. My agency does not weight visits (other than a SOC which counts as 2, everything else is 1), but if I were you I would go slow. There is a huge learning curve with home health and you are probably going to feel overwhelmed.

twokidsmom,rn · Nov 20, 2010

How long does it take to stop feeling overwhelmed?

ProBeeRN, BSN, RN · Nov 20, 2010

How long does it take to stop feeling overwhelmed?

LOL took me about a year and a half