Brita01

Bringing this thread into 2020 as it applies to me. I am very introverted and the nursing job that suits me the most is Pediatric Private Duty. One patient, one shift, and if I'm lucky, we have our own room away from the rest of the family where it's quiet. I have tried several different types of nursing and I keep coming back to Private Duty Peds.

It's ok to freak out before experiencing something new, that's what we do when we care about doing a good job. I freaked out before my first homecare peds case because I had been away from the bedside for 6 years. My first peds case was 4 years ago and I'm still working in the field, still getting butterflies when having to take on a new patient that I'm not familiar with. Here is what helps me a lot. Make sure that on your first shift, you orient with the current nurse on the case for the entire shift and take detailed notes. Example: 0800 - Assessment, VS, check/change diaper or brief; 0830 - Start tube feeding (write down formula, rate, and how long); 0900 - Give meds (write down all meds due); 1000- Check diaper, reposition; 1100 - Bath, g-tube care, trach care; 1200 - Start tube feeding, etc, etc, etc. Write down what is done at each time until the end of the shift. At some point during the shift, check your notes against the plan of care and the MAR and thumb through the entire chart to see what's in it. If there is no current nurse on the day you go out and the patient has been with the agency a long time, the parent(s) is used to orienting new nurses to the case. They will take you through the steps of the day and you can take notes from them. I hope this information helps you out on your first case. Welcome to pediatric homecare, these kids will win your hearts.

I used to work night shift, which was the only shift I could deal with due to fewer people being around. Once I decided to leave the hospital, I found my 2 dream jobs. Q/A for a home health agency where I spent my days with my nose buried in charts; then on to Pediatric home care where I take care of one patient and the routine rarely varies.

I work Pediatric home care and we make our own schedules. We work as much as or as little as we want and on the days that we want. Sometimes I like to work holidays for the extra money.

Non-smoking Democrat.

Are you sure she was a nurse? She sounds kind of not quite right in the head. Why would she have to warn the docs she works with to stay away from another hospital? If they were able to choose an ER, you'd think they would gravitate to the one in the hospital where they work. And what kind of real nurse would say that she should get first priority just for being a nurse herself. That's just strange.

The least stressful job for me was private duty. Only one patient to take care of for 8 or 12 hours. Heaven!

It's hard to believe that this thread was started way back in 2002 and people are still finding it. Not much has changed in six years, it seems.

I enjoyed reading this and hearing that three years later you have found your niche. I myself absolutely LOVED private duty. I took care of a lovely girl for 3 years and would have stayed with her until my retirement age if I could have, but she passed on. The family were some of the finest and most loving people I've ever met. After that, other families that I dealt with had some of the same issues that you spoke of and I moved on to another area of nursing. But I will always look back at my private duty nursing job as one of the best and least stressful nursing jobs that I've ever had.

Home health is definitely not for a brand new grad. Even several nurses that we have hired with years of hospital experience were not able to cope well with home health. Like some of the other posters have stated, home health patients have changed so much over the years. They are so much sicker, many come home from the hospital before it's time. When you walk in the door, sometimes after making your assessment, you're rushing to the phone to call 911. And that's happening more and more often. You need those assessment skills that come from experience to make those types of decisions. That's why it's a good idea to get some hospital experience behind you and then enter into home health. And once you're ready to enter into home health, make sure you choose an agency that is willing to orient you properly and provide you with the help you need, not one with a sink or swim mentality.

For $100,000 I'd be able to quit my current job so that I could focus on getting my RN degree without having to work at the same time. For $500,000 I'd quit nursing all together and either go back to accounting, become a vet tech, or do medical transcription. With that extra cash in the bank, I could afford to take a pay cut.

I've searched through all the threads related to ISU and I haven't been able to find the information that I'm looking for. Is there anyone who has actually done their clinicals at their local hospital for ISU? Does ANYONE know all of the states that do not accept ISU as a valid program? I know that Louisiana does not (I called the board) and New York does not (I read it on a thread here). Getting information on this program is like pulling teeth, as ISU's website and the information that they send to you are no help. Better yet, is there anybody here who has actually made it through the program starting as an LPN and is now a RN, BSN? Thanks in advance for any help that you can give me.

I'm an LPN working in the office of a Home Health Agency. I'm the scheduler, HomMed manager, supply manager, and assist the office case managers. Some weekends I work from home taking call, and the on-call bucks are not shabby. I love this job and hope to never ever have to set foot in a hospital again. This job has its ups and downs as well as any other. It can be very hectic when the referrals start rolling in and I'm trying to find enough staff to work. :uhoh21: But it's never boring and the days go by very fast.

I agree with you 100%. I too prefer my own company. But I guess somebody's decided it's some kind of personality disorder. Go figure.

I work in a home health office where I sit behind a desk and work on the computer and talk on the phone ALL day long. My titles are Staffer/HomMed Monitor/Supply Manager. I do all the staffing from the nurses to the therapists. I monitor vital signs on my computer that patients take on a special piece of equipment inside their homes. I'm responsible for the ordering and distribution of all the medical supplies. And in my spare time (ha ha) I act as a backup case manager. I'm never bored and the day just flies by because there's always so much to be done. I've recently started taking call on the weekends which is a sweet gig, because you basically get paid good money to work from home fielding calls and taking referrals.