catjmoses RN

Thank you for all the info. I just applied for a school nurse job and am looking for as much info as I can get. I've been a hospital nurse for the better part of 20 years and I'm not yet nervous, but it never hurts to be prepared.

Sue, Here's my 2 cents for what it's worth. I was a hospital nurse and traveler for 10 years and switched to home care this past fall. I'm not liking it too much. I give credit to all the gals in my office--they do this day after day. It truely has it's perks. However, I'm not a winter person and this winter I feel like the mailman! --through snow,slush, wind, rain and treacherous ice! --not for me. And the paperwork/computer work is a lot (as it is anywhere but more than I've seen in a long while (and I'm good with a computer). I'm also not fond of the 25-50% surprises in the home--(many)pets--which I love, just not the fleas, dirty places, obnoxious family..... and I think my decision maker to give my notice is that I make $10 less than the hospital girls (in the same company) and have to take work home at least 50% of the time--AFTER hours to work for free!--I don't think so (as well as be on call one night a week and one weekend a month). It's very rewarding at times, just think it over carefully--I wish I hadn't taken this job--only because now I have to give my notice and I know how much they strugle with keeping staff. cat

i do agree there are a few good perks to the job. i only live a few minutes away from the office and being intown i can run home quick if i forgot something or what have you. i guess i am just crabbing because i hate the cold. and i listen to too much estrogen in the office. i know i need to give it time. i need to reduce to only 4 days and i think it will be better. it just seems that all i do is work and by the time i get home it's still dark and cold and it seems like the day is over (at 5pm)--ugh. (did i say i am not a morning person--big time) oh well, we'll see. cath

well here is my 10cents worth.... last year i was looking at this site and thinking the same thing (i'm a med-surg-tele nurse of 10 yrs and was atraveler as well). i was getting tired of the rat race as the rats were winning! i wanted to stay home from traveling but knew i didn't want to go back to the local hospital. after a summer of thinking and talking i took a job at a local vna. a very nice small place. everyone knows everyone and i even knew a few from when i graduated, so that was a good start. they have a pretty good training/orientation time so i felt good about that--being a traveler you have to learn quick ( and you need to know the computer)! i have been there now 4 months and it is a different ballgame!! half of what you learn at the hospital will not apply or will be retaught a different way. wound care--forget it! it is completely different! the hours well, i'm a true night owl and now i work 5 days a week from 8am to 4:30 with rarely a lunch and then sometimes i take my computer home to finish charting. and i (will) have 1-2 weekend rotations and a few night calls during the month (starting next month) i soooooo miss working 3-12 hr shifts!! you come home and that is it! and i took a $10 an hour cut in pay! our charting is on a computer--thank god!--and is nothing like what you've ever done. don't let the whole "oasis" thing scare you--it's just the regular charting that kills me. you can't just chart--you have to make every note stand on it's own. so you are charting much more. on the good side---it is nice to spend time with each patient in the home, but you have to be looking at your clock as you know you have more to do (along with the charting that goes with it). and keep in mind in the hospital you are in a controled environment, out in the field you never know where you are going or who you are going to see. or if the home has animals or is clean or what. it has it's good points. me i'm glad for the experience and i will give it one year but then i'm leaving. and....i live in the northeast and i'm out in the freezing cold many times in the day!! through the snow, rain, what have you---not for me! i hope i can make it intil a year. think it over well and go with someone for a few days before you accept a job---better yet transfer to another dept in the hospital! good luck cat

ps capecod, i hope your shoulder is getting better. and that all works out well for your job. [color=#a0522d] cathym

hello had interview today--almost 2 hours. the job was for a 'case manager', who at this vna is also the 'hh nurse'. they have a case load of about 35 that they manage (ie: admit, insurance issues, arrange therapies,etc) and visit (5-6 pts daily) monday-friday and q3-4th weekend, to do ? what have you--dsgs, iv,txs, etc. it all sounded good. almost everyone that worked there she said had been working there 5,10,15 years and more. that counts for something. and the orientation (oasis included) is about 3 months. (i know nothing about insurance,medi-care/caid-so i would need that aspect esp.) my ins is 75/25%, typical accrued time for vacations, etc. then she asked me about pay--what i was used to, etc. my last floor nurse job--reg staff, i got close to 29/hr (11 year/night shift/weekend included). she said,"well you know home care gets notoriously less than the hospital--but we try to be competitive" she said they start at 'around' $20/hr. (i'm thinking 'i hope my jaw didn't just hit the floor'.) but that could be increased 'a little' for experience and 'elevated' by gas allowance (47 cts/mi) and on call pay (which i would have to do on rotating basis). i would have made more at the dr's office i applied for. (my son would make more at the toll booth job he applied for!) in the mean time my traveler recruiter calls with a job for 32/hr!!! (free ins from day one/free housing) oh boy. i do want to be home but i need the money. the only thing is that if i travel i am back here in this spot in 13 wks again. i can't do the whole job hunting thing again! and i haven't completely resigned myself to being a life-traveler. i'm in new england! shouldn't the pay be higher? i saw on a job pay site that it was much higher. any thoughts?? she said she'd call me later in the week. and if they called me back i would have another interview with the super that had to be out in the field today d/t a call out. thanks for letting me rant. i know being home and not dealing with hospital politics is worth it's weight in gold--but does it have to be from my pay check? cathym

Thanks 'Capecod' (Love it there by the way!). I'm not sure if that's good or not. I like being with the pts but I' thinking that would be good too. I'm a good problem solver and I like working independantly. Oh well we'll see tomorrow. I will post with the results of the interview. I need this job! I will get this job and it will be a good one. cathy ps How is your job going? I thought I read that you had a few 'bumps' in your change to HH or are you in case mngt too?

Hello, I have read all of these messages and am very inspired. I go for an interview tomorrow at a local vna. The woman who called briefly mentioned a 'job in case management'. So I'm not sure what exactly that means--if that is different than a hh nurse. Any thoughts? I'll find out tomorrow but if anyone has any hints. tips, or other words of wisdom before I go would be MOST appreciated. PS I have been a hospital/travel nurse for 11 years in med/surg/tele/ccu and am soooooo.... tired of the politics and bs that puts me and my license at risk. I actually thought about quitting nursing a few months ago but decided not to let the turkeys get me down! Looking for a GOOD change. Thanks all, ....justwannacraft,CathyM

hi all, first post here. i completely agree with you mariedoreen. i have been a nurse for 10 yrs now and the work load doesn't get better in med/surg. i'm a travel nurse and i just left a job i had because i just could not take it anymore! one would think that it would be easy enough to take a 10 min bathroom break but it's not! in an 8-10hr shift many nights i couldn't get away. bells going off, bed alarms ringing, orders to be taken off, meds, assessments, blood, admits, iv's, brp's, charting, and that's just the 'regular' stuff, not all the other stuff that happens-- c/p, abnormal vs, falls, resp distress to name a few ---it just doesn't end some nights! and no, they do not sleep all night! hospital nursing doesn't have a beginning or an end. --24 hrs baby--just like 7-11! and if you work where half the staff is sick of it already, forget it, you will constantly hear --"get used to it--it doesn't get any better". i personally think that is a poor attitude --burned out or not. i love nursing, but i am tired of going home so tired i can't see straight, so hungry i'll eat the first thing that jumps out of the fridge and having to pee so bad that i'm on the verge or a uti! the only solution i see is to work days where they usually have enough staff, get breakfast, lunch and afternoon break!---not an option for me as i'm a true night owl, or specialize. ccu, pacu, mother/baby to name a few. i worked in ccu for a while a few years ago and i loved it. when we were busy it was a different kind of busy--not running the halls between 6-10 pt's busy but busy with 1-3 pt's. i'm definately working my way back there--it's that or i'm out! i'm too close to being burned. i keep telling my mother i'd rather be a walmart greeter some days!:chuckle