New To Hh

[lisa41rn]

I will be shadowing a HH nurse today for the first time. I'm excited to be getting out of hospital nursing, but I'm more nervous than I thought I would be. The more I talk to people, the more nervous I get. The hospital always had backup, and obviously you don't have that in the home!! I've always hated trachs and that seems to be what I hear about the most! I've been asked to consider case mgmt when a position comes up in a few months and I know I would love that as I truly wanted that in the beginning. I know pay is different everywhere, but what is the average? For visits? For case mgrs? How long does it take to get over the nervous feelings? Also, after shadowing this nurse today, I was going to start doing the easy visits on my own. For the tougher ones, I was told another nurse would be there to help me. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[GYPSY1349]

congratulations on taking the step out of the hospital setting and into home health...i hope it will be as rewarding as it has been for me.

in home health, you will have the experience of being in the patient's home, and truly, without rushing, be in a position to fully evaluate their needs and concerns. the opportunity to actually spend the time teaching the patient to improve or learn to cope with their health status can be priceless. you will learn to prioritize and assess in a way often not possible in the busy hospital setting.

yes, you will be on your own, and that is scary at first...so stay calm and focused. you only have that one patient at a time, and you have all the time, in fact, often weeks and weeks to get your desired outcome. make a good plan of care, or follow the plan started by the admitting nurse...adjust it as you go along to meet the patient's needs, and you will do fine!

as for case management, get comfortable with your one on one visits first..figure out what works for you and your patients before you take that leap. with individual visits, you are only responsible for that one patient, at that specific visit. in case management, you will be responsible for the outcomes of a group of patients, regardless of whether you have seen them recently or not...so in a sense, you will also be monitoring what all the other nurses do during their visits, through chart reviews, getting report from them, following up, etc..it's a much larger concept, and you'll want to be completely comfortable in your skills before you tackle it...but the good news is that it is doable.

take your time, enjoy the experience...it's not for everyone, but with the right attitude and the commitment to provide the very best care you can, one patient at a time, you will do just fine! good luck and blessings to you!:icon_hug: