Oasis Pay

I get paid per visit. Presently I get $130 for a SOC, $80 for a ROC or Recert, and $50 for routine visits, which I think is fair. If I am working non visits (trainings, meetings, etc). I get paid $27/hr, which I feel should be higher with all the extra work I do that I cannot bill for and/or do not get paid for. I feel my visit pay is good but if I were to get paid solely on an hourly basis I would look for another job. I'm sure you realize that when your nurse works 24 hours a week, that 24 hours is probably just patient time, that is billable... about 30-40% of my work is spent doing things I do not get paid for (drive time, extra time in a patient's home that has a lot of needs/complexities, running to the office to pick up supplies, running labs, calling people to check in and set up my schedule, charting, etc.)

Depending on your area and the experience of the nurse I might consider more like $28 to $32/hr. I would be happier with that.

I am of the opinion that if you pay by the piece (visit), you will get piece-meal work and the mentality that goes along with it.

Pay frequently varies by region as well, so it helps to know where you are and where the responders are to make an apples-to-apples comparison.

Our agency has a starting salary of $60K/yr for RN case managers with a "unit" requirement of 30 units per week. Visits are weighted based on complexity and amount of paperwork involved. SOC is 3 units, ROC or recert is 2, discharge is 1.5, regular SNV 1, hi-tech (IV or wound vac) is 1.5. Anything over the required productivity is paid at the per-diem rate: SOC $100, ROC $75, recert $65, Discharge $55, Hi-tech SNV $45/50 (depends on what it is and how long it takes), SNV $40.

Case conference is once weekly and all full-time staff get 1 unit for attending, PRN staff who attend are paid an hourly rate. We also pay mileage, I think it's $0.40/mile. Staff meetings or any other mandatory meetings or training time are also paid the same way.

I really, truly dislike the per-visit model as it does not capture all that a professional RN does in home care. I feel like per-hour pay is more often abused by employees who ruin it for the honest. I also know that employers will use the per-hour pay as a reason to pay less.

I really like our salary model and feel that it is fair to both employer and employee. Very few experienced home care nurses have complained about the structure, the rare complaint comes from those who are new to the biz and don't understand how good it really is.

WOW...I am taken back by these salaries! I am in Tennessee...the Nashville area. Where are you?

I am with you about salaries for nurses who provide home care. At the end of the day...our hearts beat clinical and we want to follow through and provide the best care possible. Granted there are some who abuse the work and the pay...but for the most part, we are a special group of people.

I am very vocal with my superiors who are proposing such an arrangement. Thank you for replying.

Kate...love your system of units. Does 30 units equal a full time employee? What are units for a part-time or do the units strictly convert to pay for service?

I am in the Nashville area also. Our Soc is $65, Roc/RCT $50, Regular visit is $35, and .45/mile. Meetings are paid at $21 per hour. I spend 1.5 hours in the office each morning turning in previous days visits and mapping out visits for the day. This pay is looking low compared to alot of other places. I really would rather be salary. I am seeing that the pay per visit cannot possibly cover all the work I do outside of the visits.For example, today I had a patient dying and the family requested for a nurse to come out. I was on my way to do a RCT but instead at my bosses request, I went to be with this patient's family. She died right before I arrived. Not to be insensitive, but other than a hug there wasnt much I could do. This was not a paid visit. I wanted to get to my recert which was a paid visit. Ultimately I offered comfort, and left a little after EMS arrived. I felt that I did the right thing. It's just that being ppv it seemed to me that I needed to get to the rct. I am not sure why home health companies switched to this mode of payment. I am new to this so I will see how this plays out. I do know that I would feel much more comfortable with home health if it were salary.

I am in the Nashville area also. Our Soc is $65, Roc/RCT $50, Regular visit is $35, and .45/mile. Meetings are paid at $21 per hour. I spend 1.5 hours in the office each morning turning in previous days visits and mapping out visits for the day. This pay is looking low compared to alot of other places. I really would rather be salary. I am seeing that the pay per visit cannot possibly cover all the work I do outside of the visits.For example, today I had a patient dying and the family requested for a nurse to come out. I was on my way to do a RCT but instead at my bosses request, I went to be with this patient's family. She died right before I arrived. Not to be insensitive, but other than a hug there wasnt much I could do. This was not a paid visit. I wanted to get to my recert which was a paid visit. Ultimately I offered comfort, and left a little after EMS arrived. I felt that I did the right thing. It's just that being ppv it seemed to me that I needed to get to the rct. I am not sure why home health companies switched to this mode of payment. I am new to this so I will see how this plays out. I do know that I would feel much more comfortable with home health if it were salary.

MiZZ RN... You DID the right thing by being with this family. There will be more times like these if hospice is not involved. The beauty of home health is the relationships we can build with people. It does seem that the pay is low...however I am curious as to where the nurses live who get $100 and more for a SOC. How many visits do you do a day...that includes SOC, Recerts and SNV's?

I live outside of Philly I get $35/visit, $65/SOC and $22/hr for office work. Lately have been seeing 5/6 pts a day. Our census is low right now. With Medicare cuts do not see any increases for a long time.

I live in NV and get $130 for an SOC because it literally takes at least 3 hours to chart the thing with our absolutely ridiculous charting system. However, when I was working for a different agency and salaried, an SOC was work 2.5 units which if I was paid per visit would be about $120.

Kate...love your system of units. Does 30 units equal a full time employee? What are units for a part-time or do the units strictly convert to pay for service?

30 units is required for full-time employees. We don't have "part time" employees. Everyone else is paid the per-diem rate, including those of us who are salaried in the office and pick up visits after hours for additional pay.