Looking for guidance from a few HH vets.

Published

I am moving forward with my efforts to secure a position outside of the hospital setting. I think home healthcare will provide me with the stable employment I desire. After doing my research to see if it is wise of me to give it a try, I have come to the conclusion that not only is it wise, but necessary.

What I would love to know is:

What do you know now that you wish you had known going into HH care?

Expect a much fuzzier line separating home from work. You will be on your own most of the time, which could be a pro or con, depending on your personality.

We have computerized charting, but I still have loads of papers (H&P's of my patients, forms, lab slips) in my home.

Expect the interior of your car, especially your trunk, to change drastically. Supplies, boxes, and more supplies.

Having worked in HHC for may years, both in the field and in management, I think you will either love it or hate it. It is important to know your limitations. I have seen some excellent nurses burn out because they tried to be everything to everyone. The work can be very difficult, both mentally and physically. Find a buddy in your agency to bounce off ideas, concerns, and funny stories. Lastly, make time for yourself every day..even if it's just for a cup of coffee.

Specializes in M/S, Travel Nursing, Pulmonary.

I have an interview with an HH company wed. morning. I'm extremely sceptical though. They pretty much said full time can not always be gauranteed. After reading the posts here and hearing about lay offs (not by this company though) in the area, I'm not so sure its worth leaving my current job for. Might do it part time after the Mollen job is done in Nov.

I wonder too, are they just going on a hiring spree.......not giving full time to anyone, only giving out part time hours. If thats the case, I'm really not interested.

Specializes in Long Term Care and Physician's office an.

I just recently started in HH. There is alot to learn and your biggest priority will be organization. I take very little work home with me at night. I can also pretty much make up my own schedule. Where I work we have a meeting every week to talk about new admits, patients that we are having problems with and to work out our schedules. This helps everyone and keeps us in the loop. I work for a hospital based HH and we also have enough work to go around.

When I first started home health, I had to take what was available. The ideal for us, as home health nurses, is to find a case and work it for an extended length of time even if it is once-a-day visits. My particular forte is recovering preemies and I am very good at what I do. I was a NICU for many years and then I am a mom of 6 and if there is anything I know like the back of my hand, it is babies in every way you can imagine.

Think about it though. When you are new and the agency is looking for a place to put you, what kind of client do you think you are going to get? I didn't know this. But if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. :smackingf It is the clients that nobody else wants because they have various problems in character, home life, and are the worst of people to care for. These people do not have a regular nurse because it is difficult to find someone to help them. I am not kidding you when I tell you that one of these clients was so bad for me that it was all I could do to stay for the entire 8 hours. It was awful!! :dzed:

But thankfully, and I do thank God for this, I didn't have to wait long before I was able to start taking care of a baby that I liked. I have since worked three cases.

I can tell you honestly that I love working for people at night in their homes taking care of their babies. It is very rewarding. I only have to do limited talking, which I love except baby talk, which I love. :) I have my iPad for my down time. So I watch movies in HD with one ear-bud in my ear so I can hear the baby if he/she cries. If I need to be fully hearing the baby, I do something like play Scrabble for a while. It is quiet and peaceful at night. I look forward to the times when the baby wakes up. It is usually a situation that has a bright and happy ending. I find it very rewarding sharing my knowledge with these young mothers. I take my job very seriously. I don't sleep. I treat these babies the exact way that I would treat them if the mom was standing over my shoulder. So people trust me. I like that too.

One major con is the money. The pay stinks. They are forcing me to take LPN wages, which I think is totally and completely unconscionable.

Specializes in sub-acute/ltc/hospice.

Hey is that you Erik? i worked with you at a mollen clinic less than a week ago..at sams in west mifflin, my car broke down remember? im thinking this is you.. thought i would give this site a try,finding it difficult to navigate though

Specializes in M/S, Travel Nursing, Pulmonary.
Hey is that you Erik? i worked with you at a mollen clinic less than a week ago..at sams in west mifflin, my car broke down remember? im thinking this is you.. thought i would give this site a try,finding it difficult to navigate though

LOL. This will make you the...hmmm.......second person from this site who has met me in RL.

I've always wondered, how many fellow allnurses people do I run into and not even know it?

Specializes in M/S, Travel Nursing, Pulmonary.

After giving the first company I interviewed with a lot of consideration, I decided not to take the job. When they called me to tell me to fill out an application, they claimed there were lots of open contracts right in my area that needed filled. Fast forward to meeting them in person, and the closest job they had to me was 40 min. away (if traffic is not bad). I told them "thanks but no thanks".

Literally, the whole time I was talking to them, all I heard was "We can't promise full time" and pay range never came up. They were happy I was applying, they needed more nurses with vent experience, but they weren't happy enough that they offered me any hours or told me the pay scale. The writing was on the wall.

Another company called me and said basicaly the same thing: "We can't promise full time". In fact, they pretty much told me there would not be many hours at all unless things picked up significantly.

:crying2:Guess I'll be stuck in the hospital system, like it or not.

If I had a hospital job and was working at it fine, there is no way I would do home health. The pay is half what you get. I am making $1 more than what the secretaries make in the hospital. I mean, it is bad. I haven't worked in 20 years. So they won't hire me in the hospital. I love my job though.

Specializes in M/S, Travel Nursing, Pulmonary.
If I had a hospital job and was working at it fine, there is no way I would do home health. The pay is half what you get. I am making $1 more than what the secretaries make in the hospital. I mean, it is bad. I haven't worked in 20 years. So they won't hire me in the hospital. I love my job though.

I think thats why wage never came up.............they knew it'd be a tough sale.

Yes, I was forced into this position. I submitted over 100 applications online to the hospitals in my area. I never was given an interview or anything from those who actually do the hiring. I talked to a recruiter last summer that told me that no matter what I did, she wasn't going to hire me even if I got a BS degree. I spent $300 to get certified ACLS and passed that with flying colors. I thought I would continue to submit my applications in the hopes that at some point, they would change their minds. But no, that never happened. This was the only open door. You are right. Salary was never mentioned and at this point, I was desperate. I worked and when I got my first paycheck, that's when I saw the bottom line. They did tell me at one point that I could make $25/hour, but who makes that, I do not know. It sure hasn't been me. :)

Hey Luv2care, If I may ask, how long have yu been a nurse? Experience? What part of the country?

+ Join the Discussion