Please help! Considering HH career

[irishnurse68]

Hi! I want some advice from all you home health nurses out there:)

I currently work in a birthing center, in the level 2 nursery and sometimes float out to postpartums/gyn surgeries. I have been working here for 2 yrs, since I got out of nursing school. I worked full time until January this year, when I went to an every weekend position for 35% more on the hour. I have not been happy with this unit since I started, our management is horrible, and we have huge turnover, which is unusual for a birthing center. I love my coworkers, but feel very unrewarded and unappreciated for the work I do. I have been thinking about home health care for a while now, and interviewed last week with an agency, and was offered a full time position. Here are the details:

minimum 25 visits per week, most nurses do 35-40.

first time visits are $50, follow ups $35

motorola razor with unlimited minutes for work and personal use provided

$200 gas card per month

full benefits, including 401k and STD

$200 per year for continuing ed

they pay for your license renewal

bonus at end of year=$2 for every visit you did that year

they will allow me to work in a central area close to home

the owner and nurse manager are wonderful

i talked to several nurses who work there and they love it

initial paperwork is about 5 pages, follow up visits 1 page

I feel like this is a wonderful opportunity, with great flexibility and would be a very rewarding career. My question for all of you is mostly, would I be stupid to give up a job working 24 hours a week for something working a lot more hours? Are there any other considerations you can think of that I need to look at? Thank you so much for any help!!!

[caliotter3]

Sounds good to me. Positive input from nurses who already work for the agency is a good indicator. Why don't you hold onto the old job for awhile until you see how the new one works out? It can work to your advantage psychologically. Once you are established in your new position, then you can resign. Yes, working seven days a week will look like a lot, especially for someone who has become used to a short work week, but lots of nurses work heavy schedules. You are only doing it for a short while for job insurance. Good luck on your new direction. Hope you like working in hh.

[Quiskeya]

What's the name of the agency and in what state and city is it located? It sounds really good. I 'd say you should definitely give it a try and in the worse case scenario you can go back to what you were doing before. Good luck!