katmndu224

I have been a nurse since 1992. I work in home care and there are plenty of jobs. The most I have made was $78,000 in one year with so much OT that I was ready to drop (I was working to pay for my wedding---a waste since I was divorced after only 1 1/2 years--oh well, no big loss)...lol! I work for University of PA's home care depat and the base pay os $22.70 per hour...freezes on raises have been in effect for several years yet new RN's are brought in at a higher rate. I took a big pay cut to take this job but I traded off by having better benefits than at a mom and pop agency. Just like any other job or career, you must learn to live within your means. Stay away from credit cards if at all possible. Refinance your home for a lower rate. Just remember, the longer you are a nurse and the more education you have,. the more money you SHOULD make. Salary has always been pretty negotiable up until the past few years. Again, we have a shortage of working nurses. Any job is good if you can learn to live in a budget. If you plan to be rich, you are in the wrong field, unless you open your own business. Thanks

The articicle mentioned also suggested that on our scrubs, we wear a badge that says "RN". Working in home care, a uniform is totally out of the question...vermin, insects, dirty animals and just plain dirt is NO match for a uniform... Sorry, but if you think a uniform is right for you then by all means join the military. Personally, I always introduce myself as the nurse and the coorndinator of care in the home. I did the same thing in the hospital (in rehab, we often wore a T-Shirt and sweat pants due to the nature of the work). I do not feel the need for a uniform to make me feel or act more professional:-)

MFD Teacher....why do you assume that a hospital setting is the only place a nurse works?? There are shortages of working RN's in ALL practice settings, not just in a hospital. I am sure your comments came from the heart and I appreciate that but where do the nurses go when they leave the hospitals?? I put in my 15 months right out of nursing school and moved right into home care where I have been for the past 12 years. Just a few thoughts...

Are you a nurse? It is very disturbing to me that you could hold this view. Yes caring is a BIG part of what nurses do, but it is not the only thing that they do. Thank you GracefulRN:) I also found Snake's comments innapropraite and disturbing. I would also like to know if you are a nurse and if so, how many years do you have under your belt. Your comments sound very much like a medical receptionsit who gives out medical advise...useless!! Are you trying to baffle us or dazzle us with all that BS??? Really, lose the pseudo-intelect and go pick up one of the more reputable nursing journals. If you knew ANYTHING about nursing, you would know that there is a drive for ALL nursing practice to be outcomes-based due to scientific research...yes, nurses also do research too, which is based on science (both qualitative and quanitative)!! God help me if I were ever a patient in the setting in which you practice...indeed, if you are a nurse...and you talked that talk, you would be respectfully to get out of my room. You miss the core of nursing...I leave it to you to figure it out. I just hope an SN does not read that dribble and think what you said is true. I for one would not want to be a nurse if it was all that you stated.

I wish I had known how many more doors would open for me with a BSN. It only took me 12 years after my ADN to get it... :)

However, I was speaking with a full-time student yesterday who suggested I do homecare. Apparently, in Toronto they will hire you if you have finished first semester and have a car and a First Aid/CPR certificate. I will have both by next summer. hello future LPN, I have been an RN since 1992 and have been doing home care since early 1993-4 to the present. I am also a full time BSn student and am looking forward to graduate school. I am not sure what the regs are in Canada, but in the US in my state of Pennsylvania, LPN's can only work seeing patients if an RN also see the patient once a week. Most do not even use LPN's.. You, however, are not at that point yet and it sounds like your friend is suggesting that you work as a home health aide. HHA's make about $15 per visist or about $7.50 an hour here. I would see how the salary would compare to working in the mill beofre you make a choice. It is hard work but you sound up tp it. I would NOT recommend home care to a new nurse (RN) or even an LPN...you need excellent assesment skills with the ability to act autonomously. I say compare the benefits of both jobs...working as a HHA will also give you some extra clinical practice even if it is for personal care...it sounds like a win-win situation. If all checks out OK...GO FOR IT!! :)