New to HH nursing

[louwho22]

Hello to everyone, I just recently transferred to the home health dept at the hospital I work at. So far I love it, the patients in their homes have been so wonderfull to care for. That seems to be the easy part so far. So everyone does all the paper work and learning all these rules and regulations get easier? My brain is on a bit of overload at this moment and was wondering how other people adjusted to home health nursing. I was a critical care nurse for 14 years prior to coming to HH 3 weeks ago. Any words of wisdom or advice for a new HH nurse. Thanks in advance for any help.

[Hairstylingnurse]

it will get much easier.you will learn it all quicker than you know. it is also wonderful because you have soooo much flexibility. if you need to run an errand thru the day you can easily do it. if you need to finish work earlier some days for any reason, it can totally be done. the pts. and their families are usually wonderful. how are you dealing with the price of gas????? are they scheaduling all your pts. pretty close together, make sure they do that. did they provide you with a cell phone? the cell phone is a big help for calling into the office while out in the feild. you can also call the dr. office in between pts. visits. one piece of advice is to keep a insulated cup in your car with ice water. i gained about 10 pounds in no time when i started hh d/t all the cokes and sitting in the car all day. also i was eating breakfast & lunch in the car. it was much harder to lose it than it was to gain it . you will love hh, best of luck to ya.