I am thinking about leaving the high stress environment of the NICU where I currently work. I am a little nervous about making the move, but I am miserable due to the stress of my job. I talked with a few HH agencies and weighing my options right now. I am assuming pedi HH is mostly shift work working with one patient a day, not really making several visits to several patients a day. Am I thinking correctly about that? I know there are mostly trachs & vents. I am a little nervous about that. I guess because I would be by myself in the home.
I know the pay is a little less than the hospital & benefits will cost a little more.
Any HH pediatric nurses out there? What questions do I need to ask of the agencies? Any overall advice for making the move?
I am just really burnt out & tired of the hospital environment.
My fear is not having anyone around to bounce Q's off of. It is kind of scary to me-if that makes sense. I spent 2 clinical rotations in this hospital and always had questions about this or that. So, to be independent makes me hesitant to do this.
This concern can be alleviated by making a close connection with the nurse who orients you or the primary nurse on the case. Exchange phone numbers. I have found that most nurses who have been with a patient for any length of time are usually quite happy to make themselves available for questions. In one home, the parents posted the contact numbers of the two nurses who acted as the "resource" nurses for the patient. However, make sure you don't give out your phone number indiscriminately of course. The family might take advantage of you if you give them your number (which, by the way, is against the rules of all agencies. But many nurses do this anyway).
I never thought about that. I guess in my head "home Healthcare" sounds isolating. But, it may not be that bad. I did learn a lot from the parents in the hospital. Thanks!
I worked 12 years for a children's hospital based home health agency. i was a case manager for 8 of those years and did alot of driving(covering 11 counties) and absolutely loved it. the agency put alot of money into my training and certified all of us rn's in peds oncology/chem, general peds, case management and i have specialty certs in all areas. a new manager came in and got rid of all of us. I now work for a adult home care agency and will be doing peds in about 6 months.. i miss peds home health and feel by skills are being under utilzied. best of luck.
luvmyguys
91 Posts
My fear is not having anyone around to bounce Q's off of. It is kind of scary to me-if that makes sense. I spent 2 clinical rotations in this hospital and always had questions about this or that. So, to be independent makes me hesitant to do this.