How to's on private duty nursing in Oklahoma (lpn and RN)

[idealnursey]

How do you start out as a private duty nurse independently in Oklahoma? What forms or contracts would I use? I have an Lpn friend wanting to know as well.. I am an RN. Thanks

[danarooo, BSN, RN]

Check with the nursing agencies in OK. I'm from OKC but haven't lived there since late 2007 and wasn't a nurse just yet either! Some agencies you could check with are PSA Healthcare and continuum. I know in Virginia where I live now the Medicaid reimbursement rate is LOW so RN pay as a PDN is LOW...but Virginia and Florida are the two states w/the lowest reimbursement rates in the US. Not sure about Oklahoma.

PSA would be your best bet, but again the pay rate may not be acceptable to you so be aware of that. You can get training on trach/vent patients which is very helpful considering that RN's don't do anything with vents in nursing school and aren't really taught much about them. When I accompany my patient to the ER the nurses freak out over the vent because they have no clue, so that extra skill and knowledge comes in handy. You can also make a lot of contacts and if desired use that as a way to get yourself into a better facility/position because you will go with the patient to school/PT or OE/Dr. appointments etc...

Hope that helps you out a bit!