Is private duty nursing a stable job? Options for LPN's?

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My mom has been a LPN at a hospital for many years. She's very unhappy at her job but feels a bit stuck there since the jobs for LPN's are slim nowadays as most employers, especially at hospitals prefer hiring RN's, and she doesn't want to go back to school to get her RN. She worked private duty part time about a year ago and preferred it to working at the hospital. I told her she should apply to a private duty agency full time and quit her job at the hospital. Her main concern about this is that she thinks private duty is not a stable job because when a patient passes away or no longer needs the service, she believes she may be out of work and not have another job to fall back on. I find this hard to believe since I have always seen a lot of job listings for private duty nurses on job boards. Can any private duty nurses out there shed some light on this? What would be some other good options for LPN's?

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

She's correct private duty is unstable. Very few agencies hire nurses full time. If a patient is hospitalized or goes away for a weekend the nurse is left without work. Most states LPN cannot be direct hire as they must have RN oversight and RN to do admission, monthly and discharge assessments.

Direct pay private duty is even less stable, requires the LPN to contract with an RN for supervision and may have issues with taxes (as an independent contractor), and issues if a client doesn't pay

She can try traditional skilled home health, subacute, outpatient, skilled nursing, rehab and even supplement with private duty agency work.

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

Welcome to allnurses.com

Thread moved to Private Duty forum.

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Specializes in Pediatric.

Run from private duty!

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.

I've worked PDN & it is the furthest thing from a stable job. It's great if a nurse wants to pick up extra hours, but as a full time job it sucks.

The last PDN job I had got shut down because the client got removed from the home by CPS.

Like a PP said, a nurse could lose hours by a patient being admitted into the hospital or just being away. Also it is possible & happens a lot that nurses get removed from cases for little to no reason at all.

I would never recommend PDN nursing to anyone, unless they wanted to pick up extra money.

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The only way i can see Pdn being a stable job is if the nurse is contracted to work with many different agencies.

I would say 80% of nurses I know the work Pdn work for 2 or 3 agencies at the same time.

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Thank you for your replies, everyone.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.

The reason that there are so many posting for nurses by home health company is because they like to draw them in with the promise of work when there isn't any work.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

Try traditional home health (intermittent skilled visits) with clinical skills & experience this could be a good option

Billing/coding is a waste of time as most is outsourced overseas now

LPN options are limited she may be able to secure work in a hospital affiliated outpatient with her experiences

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Specializes in nurseline,med surg, PD.

I'm sure everyone has had different PDN experiences, however, I used to do PDN and I was working around 50 hours a week. The deciding factor is your client. If you can get a steady client who is not constantly in and out of the hospital, you will get plenty of hours. But, that is a big "IF". Basically, it's luck. Perhaps she could Interview with a couple agencies and get some feedback on this.

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Specializes in nurseline,med surg, PD.

Plus, you don't generally get benefits. If you're sick, you don't get paid. And no paid vacation either. Some agencies offer health insurance, but not all of them.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

Lack of benefits are often the extreme minimum due to low reimbursement by Medicaid/Medicare/insurance.

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