Need Advice About Hh Job

Specialties Home Health

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Need advice about a HH job

Hi,

I have been out of the nursing field for about a year. Before that I worked on a medical-surgical unit at a hospital for a little over a year. I absolutely hated it. Now I have the opportunity to do home health nursing. I have a job right now that I like; it's not as challenging as nursing and sometimes I miss nursing. The agency pay is good, I would be making about 38% more than my current job plus mileage and cell phone reimbursement. The biggest drawback to me is the on-call stuff. I would have to be on-call one night a week and work one weekend a month, or maybe a little more. They also do rotating minimal staffing for holidays. Is this schedule normal? Also is it possible to see 6 patients in an 8 hour day? That is what this agency expects.

Any advice would be appreciated!!!

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Personally, in hh I do only continuous care, i.e. "shift" work, which I find more suitable than hrly intermittent cases. The interaction I have had with intermittent nurses has been that 6 pts can reasonably (?) be handled in one day. However, I was given these pointers: no time for formal lunch break, munch on sandwich in car while going from one case to another, must be very, very organized as well as flexible. Have all your info avail in your car so you can make possible quick changes. Example: Suzy Q's hubby calls at 0730 and calls off your scheduled visit at 1100 for some reason. You can try to call and squeeze in Johnny Q instead. Make your visit as quick as possible, no extra time for too much chat. Make a quick written note in house as necessary, as you leave the house, as soon as you get into car write out that note very fast. She was using SOAP note charting and could whip out a quick paragraph in about 10 min or less in her car. As far as on call, I controlled my on call status b/c of my own situation. My agency knew that my parameters included that I would only agree to on call in certain cases, in certain circumstances, and only for those for which I had been oriented and/or had worked for in the past. Main reason for me: I'm a noc shift nurse primarily and can not tolerate having my sleep/wake sched disrupted just any old time. Try going back into the archives of the hh forum and you will find a lot of instances where nurses are venting about on call and scheduling problems w/their agencies. The biggest prob seems to be that you have to have an agreement and make the employer stick to it. And the easiest way not to be taken advantage of is to turn your phone off or use caller ID for screening at those times when you absolutely do not want to be avail to work. Very easy. Sorry could not be of more help.

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Specializes in geriatric, hospice, med/surg.

Seeing six patients in a day is a lot. A home health agency that I once worked for expected seven! With mileage and paperwork involved, it's almost impossible to visit seven folks, get paperwork completed by the expected deadline of 24 hours or less, and stay sane. At least I couldn't. Might wanna try for a hospice visiting nurse job. They usually expect less, like about five visits per day so that visits can be longer and sometimes you do spend closer to an hour or a bit more with each pt./family. Good luck!

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Specializes in Lie detection.

6 pt's is ok but depends on how far apart they are.. i see anywhere from 5-7 a day. my pt's are pretty close though. they're usually within a 5 mile radius. i rarely take a lunch but that's my choice, i could if i wanted, i'd rather finish early. i love the flexible schedule. i have busy days that do go to 5 but some finish at 3 or 3 30.

i don't do on call or holidays so i'm lucky and don't know too much about that...

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I would stay away from that scene. I recently left a home health job where you were expected to see many patients in a day and some of them were literally over 100 miles apart. They will run you to death and then place the blame on you when something goes wrong. It wasn't until the state inspectors came in and made an example out of this agency that they started looking for three nurses to do what they were expecting me to do alone.

They will do you the same, it sounds like.

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Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.

We see 4 hrs worth of pt's per 8 hr day. That could be 2 admits or 4 regular visits or a combination such as 1 admit and 2 regular visits. The remainder of the day is for charting. We get paid for charting at home. Some days I'm home by 1pm others it's 5pm. I do chart at home most every day.

You'll want to work for an agency that focuses on quality of pt care rather than quantity.

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Specializes in geriatric, hospice, med/surg.

DutchgirlRN: Where do you work? Bet it isn't a corporation...I wish there was such a horse in my neck of the woods! LOL! Please email me or reply back here with answer if you don't mind. I would love to get on with a home health agency that is so kind to it's nurses!

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Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.
DutchgirlRN: Where do you work? Bet it isn't a corporation...I wish there was such a horse in my neck of the woods! LOL! Please email me or reply back here with answer if you don't mind. I would love to get on with a home health agency that is so kind to it's nurses!

I work for a corporation but it's small, 9 offices, plus they have hospice and comp rehab.

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on call not as bad as you think, weeks not bad, weekends can get crazy, but once you know your pts makes it easier . you've got to stand your ground without being disrespectful. summers may be slow but winters are pretty busy. you do get to do different skills. it would be better on pts and nurses if they see the same but be prepared to get jugglied around.:o i can see 8 pts in 6to 7 hrs; if i have them in the same area; i don't do oasis, resumes,or discharges. some this field will be great for and others not.

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