New Grad RN in Home Health!

[Goldentea]

I recently got hired as a home health case manager as a new grad and I am excited but scared at the same time. I haven't gone out to visit patients yet, but I'm worried that I am not competent enough to be on my own. I will be following a nurse for a couple days and then I will be on my own. Anyway, I have a few questions and any advice is welcome! What do you if you are in the patient's home and you are asked a question you don't know how to answer? Or when do provide teaching on disease processes and medications, what if you can't remember a certain side effect? I don't know if we are provided with the patient's medication list or not before you visit. Did any of you carry around med books and textbooks with you into the patient's home when you first started and look up answers?

[MessyMomma]

I've been in HH for about 2 months now (but had 12 years on med/surg) and I love it!

Before I go see a patient, I review the chart to see what the teaching plan is. We're computerized, so it's easier to find diagnoses, meds, comorbiditities, etc. Then I find a reputable source online and print patient education. We do have some basic teaching tools, but we are free to find our own--as long as it's not WebMD or Wikipedia, ;-).

If a patient has a question I can't answer, I tell them. Then I use my company-provided Ipad and look up the info. I haven't had anybody "mad" because I didn't know everything. They appreciate the honesty and my willingness to fibd the answer.

I find that doing some prep work the day before helps out greatly.

[mullen831]

I have been a home health nurse for about 2 years. I was hired in as a new grad. I'll admit, I knew very little when I started...I had to refresh my memory on foley insertion ;-). Anyways, a lot of the time I will use my smart phone to google something if I am not sure! I am not afraid to admit that I don't know everything!!! For example, I have a patient who today, presented with bloating in the abdomen and pain localized to the upper left quandrant... Normal BM's and eating, no nausea and/or vomiting. I was puzzled. Both my manager and I think it's simply a pulled muscle. MD wants a UA and C&S just to be sure! You will learn on the job, that is what is so great about this field. I learned how to do blood draws. I carry handouts around with my specific to my patient in their chart folder, so I have things handy. I also use an app called iTriage that I look up side effects of meds if I'm unsure. Good luck in your new endeavor! I hope you love home health as much as I have!!!!