New home health CNA

[Ginger's Person]

I start as a home health CNA next week. They give us 2 full weeks of training, which is fantastic, and the organization seems like a great employer, but I'm still way nervous.

What kinds of situations have you all encountered in home health? Do you always feel safe going to strangers' homes? Do you like being a bit more independent than you would in a nursing home or a hospital?

I wanted this job because I'm interested in public health nursing, and I think this will be a great way to learn about how a patient's environment can interact with their health. I'm excited to jump in and learn and work hard, but I'm also curious about everyone else's experiences.

[Scarlett9705]

I am also starting a home health aide job. I've done it before and have always preferred it to working in the nursing home setting. I enjoy the one on one interaction you have and working independently. There are times when your cases are hit or miss. I've had some of the most enjoyable cases where the majority of the time you provide the patient with companionship in addition to basic personal care of course. I always get paid less in home care, but it's worth it because I'm happier there and not running around in a million different directions with tons of things to do like in the nursing home. There were times I wouldn't even take a break because there just wasn't enough time. Some people would be bored to death doing home care and need to be busy. It does help your shift go by faster I have to admit. I've had a 2 hour home care case that I swear felt almost like an 8 hour shift because there wasn't much to do. I would finish all my work in the first hour and actually wished I had more to do to make the time go by. I still prefer to be bored rather than overworked and underpaid at the same time. The cons of home care are the wear and tear on your car and sometimes encountering dirty houses. The job that I'm supposed to be starting now is giving me some last minute doubts unfortunately. I went through the orientation and everything and now I'm not so sure if I want the job after all. The reason why is that I found out you have to go to wherever they tell you to. A lot of their cases is in a city that is notorius for being crime ridden and unsafe. I don't feel comfortable going in these areas and parking my car there as well. There is no way out of it because they told me that they provide an escort driver to take you to where you're not comfortable driving yourself. That's nice and all, but I still have to get out of the car and who knows what kind of situation I'll find once I'm inside an apatrment or whatever. A couple of the nurses told me about incidents where they have seen cockroaches infested in some apartments. That just creeped me out! That's all I need to take home with me. I realize people who are underprivileged deserve care too, but let it be by someone who lives in that area and wouldn't think twice about going there. Most of the places that I have applied to asked on the application what towns you are willing to travel to. This job didn't and now I know why. I also feel I have the right to not go to any houses where the residents are smokers, but I forgot to address that issue at orientation. Oh well. I'm sorry this post is so long. I guess I had a lot to say since I've only posted 1 time I think. If anyone gets a chance to write back and let me know what your opinion is about what I should do, I would really appreciate it. Also to hopefullyanrnsoon, I hope I didn't scare you away from home health. It's really great if you get in with the right agency and they repect where you are willing to travel to and don't send you a half hour drive away for an hour long case. There's another con, but the pros definitely outweigh them. Good luck to you. I really hope you enjoy it and become a public health nurse.