New grad Home health nurse

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Its very tough to get a job right now.

I've been applying to different facilities but still no luck. long story short my friend told me she knows an agency that accept new grads. I called and they told me to come over and bring necessary requirements. The fact that they don't have orientation I'm afraid that i don't have the necessary skills and training to do this job.

Is there any new grads here that work as a home health nurse?

What is/are your advice for me?

thank you for your help.

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You have to be assertive to get sufficient orientation. Best to do extended care cases in the beginning. You will be oriented to the case by a nurse already working with the client or the client's family. Normally, the family will be your support in doing the routine care for the client. Do not be afraid to ask questions of the nursing supervisor. Ask for cases where the client is stable and the care is routine. Check out the home health forum here for lots of tips and advice.

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If there is no orientation then my advice is to skip it. Homehealth Co.s are like Hospice Co.s they pop up out of the woodwork everywhere.

Find out who your chain of command is if they will tell you. Ask how long they've worked with the Co. and then go home and look them up on your states licensing website to see whether or not they are new nurses as well. You would be surprised what you find!!!! If you search Home health and hospice jobs, you will see that often the good ones want at least a year acute care, like medsurg, onc, icu. Some say being a NG is no problem and promise orientation. The only way to know if they really intend to orient you is by taking the job. If you find your orientation is following around another NG, and watching h/her fumble around taking vitals, with the focus being making sure you document how they want you to, QUIT!!!!! before you lose yor license.

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I went straight in as a new grad into home health and I didn't have orientation or go through a new graduate program. The best advice I would give is to be assertive and ask questions even if you think it may sound dumb. I was a little worried too, but remember, you got this far because you have done the studying and clinical for this profession. If you conquer hone health as a new grad, your confidence will become sky high. I hope that helped, good luck!

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Specializes in endocrinology, geriatrics, dementia,.
Its very tough to get a job right now.

I've been applying to different facilities but still no luck. long story short my friend told me she knows an agency that accept new grads. I called and they told me to come over and bring necessary requirements. The fact that they don't have orientation I'm afraid that i don't have the necessary skills and training to do this job.

Is there any new grads here that work as a home health nurse?

What is/are your advice for me?

thank you for your help.

No orientation is a major red flag especially in home health. You will need the skills to assess and treat the patient on your own as you wont have the support system in place there, as you would in a facility. I think it would be really stressful to you and dangerous for the patient as you may not recognise potential problems simply due to the fact that you haven't had the experience of seeing how they may present, and no one to call for a quick second opinion. I understand your frustration with the job market, but I think you should be selective as you don't want your first experiance to be a bad one.

Good Luck and I hope whatever you decide works out for you!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

There is a new grad Home Health nurse who regularly posts here. She seems to frequently need advice and counsel in order to take assess and adequately care for her patients.

That doesn't seem right to me. Home health nursing should be performed by someone who is comfortable with their own experienced nursing judgment and with their backup resources. Not someone who needs advice from an online forum.

Bottom line in my humble opinon: Nursing school teaches you approximately 1/4 - 1/3 of what you need to know to function as a nurse. If you immediately go into an independently functioning nursing position, you will flounder. Some will drown. Patients will not be best-served.

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thank you all for your advice i really do appreciate it. i still have the weekend to think about it & i will consider all your inputs in my decision.

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Take the job, let them start you off on a case that doesn't require much skill. At the end of the day you have bills to pay, right. It maybe homecare but its still nursing. Your taking care of one patient. Most likely the patient's family will go through the care of the patient. Just ask questions and don't hesitate to tell the agency if you don't feel comfortable doing something. Good luck

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I started as a new grad in home health, but my company (Gentiva) gave me orientation. How could they not??

I stayed for nearly eight months before I became concerned that the lack of exposure to certain skill-sets would restict me from bedside forever--I worked too hard in nursing school to let that happen. So I bailed; please consider a PRN bedside position if you do accept the HH gig.

Here are some questions to consider:

1. What are the productivity expectations as a new grad but also after you have been there for a year?

2. What is the expectation of you when they become short staffed?

3. What continuing education do they offer?

4. When will they begin using point-of-care documentation (using laptops)?

5. Is your pay based on # pts seen or are you salary (may lead to highly fluctuating paychecks!)?

6. Ask about the performance improvement plan.

7. Ask about the support you can expect if you are asked to perform a procedure that you are not comfortable with (you don't want them to require you to go alone and perform nor do you want to be penalized for asking for help).

8. Is the company bringing LPNs into the company also (limits RN visits--and $$)?

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Go for it. Typically, and I repeat, typically... HH patients are very stable. Your job is to help transition them to home after a hospital stay, teach them about their meds, perform wound care, teach ostomy care etc, etc...

I started as an LVN(RN now) in HH and was intimidated as he**. I got really friendly with one of the senior case managers, and she became my mentor. Anytime I had any doubt what so ever, I called her and she would walk me through it. You have to start somewhere, and you will learn so much if you want. I found that I was learning as I was teaching my patients, and I absolutely LOVE HH. I am still doing it on my days off.

I recognize and understand that everyone is different when it comes to being assertive, self learning, work ethic, so you need to be really honest with yourself about the position. The main thing is, safety. Never do anything that you aren't sure about or that will compromise someone's safety. And remember, we ALL have to start somewhere.

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Thank you for posting this information. I know it's a little dated, but still an important current issue. I read a while back where someone posted some information that new grads should request when talking about taking a home health care job. Like orientation, shadowing a nurse, training, etc. Well I ended up signing up with an HHCA and they contacted me briefly after signing up with a job. It ended up being canceled on me. Than there was another call and that case also got canceled for some reason. I took the advice I read here and asked about training, orientation, shadowing and it resulted in nobody contacting me or wanting to speak with me it seems. I felt like by asking for feedback from the previous nurse on the case and all the other extras, I became a not so popular candidate for placement. My feelings were very hurt, and I was very disappointed considering I cleared my schedule for three weekends in a row, spent money I didn't have on uniforms to work in (uniforms have gotten expensive over the years, especially if you want them to fit right.) Well I reached out to this agency 2-3 times and nobody called me back or responded to my e-mails after my I like to call intelligent inquiries. Anything that keeps my license in my hands, is safe for the patient and important, than I want to know about it. I felt like I did or said something wrong, but I think I was doing the right thing!!!

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dmaxis, better to get the cold shoulder now than after you have more time and energy invested. This employer only would have used you then spit you out when the next victim employee came along. Tends to happen frequently in hh. Move on to another employer where you might be appreciated as a member of the team.

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