Please HELP.... Need input for Home care/field nurse job offer

Salary seems low to me... my base is $65K. I also get 6 weeks of PTO- no way would I take an offer with only one week of vacation time.

I just went through this not sure if that is good for your area but I'm in Phoenix AZ and the average is 69k. I was like you making 32/hr at my hospital job, which came out to about 62k a year, so you would be taking a big pay cut. My original offer was $63k,10 pto and 10 sick days, company phone and tablet, and .35 cent gas reimbursement (which I thought was low i was hoping for closer to .50 cent but i can claim difference on my taxes). I countered their offer and asked for 65k since I had no home health experience but did have 4 years of hospital experience I felt that was fair and they accepted. I start Monday and am very excited! I definitely think you should check to see what the average is in your area on salary.com and definitely do not take any less then what you are making now! Also if you need benefits check that to because they can be very expensive...I will end up getting private because my home health agencies is ridiculously high!!! Good luck... let us know what you decide!!!

It all depends on your current home situation if you have children for example. The hours are great no weekends 9 to 5 but the salary is low as well as the pay. I currently do home care in NJ and make 62,000. for the year, 2 weeks vacation 1 week sick leave and I only work weekends I also supervise aides open and close cases, check medical coverage, annual and quarterly assessments and all the paperwork which is electronic. This job works for me because I have small children and the cost of daycare is very high. I know I can make more but it is what works for my family. This is what you have to consider it is not always how much you can make but weather it financially makes since for your current situation.

Thank you all for taking the time to reply.

My heart aches when I see the salaries offered in other places for my similar position. The problem at my current place is that we are paid for 7 hrs even though we work for 8hrs and hardly get to take our break. Also during winter months I'm only scheduled 2 to 3 days per week. The new offer is a guaranteed 5 days work p.w. I've asked for FT and day shift positions at my current place but hv been turned down. They would rather hire a FT LPN instead of FT RN. Another things is that my local hospitals and other big name HHC agencies arent interested in hiring me due to my background in LTC/sub acute. They are more interested in hiring someone with hospital background.

I dont want to be stuck in LTC/subacute. I'm interested in Case Management certification and believe this new job at HHC agency will lead me towards this. I hope to make the right decision. Time is running out.

I'm always leary about salaried positons because with HH you can end up with a lot of overtime that you will never get paid for. You could find yourself putting in a lot of hours on your days off to catch up on your documentation.

I would want to know if you'll be required to do overnight call in addition to your other hours. I would also like to know how you will be doing your documentation ie; paper system vs computer program (will they provide you with a laptop or tablet if it's the latter?) another thing to ask is if they supply you with a cell phone or at least reimburse you and are there limits on the amount of reimbursement.

You need to know how long your orientation will be and their expectations re: case load. Please don't forget to ask about mileage reimbursement which is currently 56.5 cents per mile.

I find most of the time agencies make sure that they make the best deal for themselves and aren't necessarily looking out for the nurses they hire. Those are the agencies who have a large turnover rate.

I work 5 days a week as a per diem and made 140kish last year in a home care agency. the amount of time I put in for paper work is immense. I spend much of my off hours/days working completing paper work. I never had time for lunch during my work hours. money is great but the amount of work and coordinating I do even on my days off makes it not so worth while.