NurseBenz

Hi all, here is the situation. The agency I work (ed) for 2 months has had 6 nurses quit in 1 1/2 weeks. I was on call last w/e & this one after being told I would only have to take call a weekend every 3-4 months. Another thing I was told was call means take calls and answer nursing judgement questions & do w/e openings. Never once told that if someone calls in I have to cover all HH visits along with my own. Well, it seems that the coordinator on Wednesday did the Thurs-Sun schedule (because agency is closed for holiday w/e) and put nurses down to cover some of the open shifts but neglected to tell them...get the picture...anyway one pt has numerous things we see him for, the nurse that found out she was scheduled was angry but said she would go anyway. She went in blindfolded basically and did g-tube meds, feeding, BS check, Insulin etc, he told her he had a bowel program and she needed to do that and it would take a few hours, she stated she didn't know anything about that and no paperwork in the home, he became angry cussing and told her to get out and never come back. Ok now today at 11am I get a call that no nurse showed up there...no surprise...so I called him and he called me a F'ing B and told me to get my a$$ over there immediately because he needed the bowel program, and he was not going to pay us (he is medicaid), mind you I have never heard of this guy an know nothing about him except his main diagnosis, his regular nurse's last day was Wed (she quit) and no one took over the case. I asked him if his evening nurse did the program and he screamed that it was not her job to do that, it was the morning. I asked him what it was and he said "You are a f'ing nurse you should know, you use your finger B****" at this point I told him I had to call my supervisor who is also on call and hung up. She did not call back for over 1 hour and then told me that he wanted dig stim and I had to go do it, I stated that I had never done it and was not trained not to mention all of the things he called me. She said you are trained because you are an RN and proceeded to give me instructions over the phone...her exact words...(lay him on his side, stick your finger up there and twist a couple of times then wait for 5 minutes and continue to do that until you get return, it shouldn't take 2 hours). This is the same nurse that had me hauled into HR 2 weeks ago because I refused to transfer a 187 lb quad from chair to bed by myself (no lift) so that I could do a dressing change. At this point I refused she said "you have no choice, you are on call" and hung up. I phoned the w/e coordinator and told her to try to find someone who had done this before she could not and called the supervisor who in turn called me back and asked what my problem was and told be I better get out there, I stated -my license, my insurance, my call- I am not doing it and she said are you quitting effective now and I replied yes. How do you all feel about going into the home and guessing what you are supposed to do? Having your patients tell you how much insulin they take because their nurse quit and the pt chart is at the office which is closed? Should I have just done the dig stim because I am an RN, does that automatically make me qualified? Maybe I am being unreasonable because I am new to home health. Thank you for letting me rant.

you're right...I was trying to figure in my head just as an example. Guess it's a good thing I am a nurse and not an accountant. Bottom line is they are only charging me 6%.

Agnus...sorry got your name wrong.

Angus, what is the "business license" that you have mentioned in a few of your posts? Are you talking about a business entity like a corp. or sole proprietor or what? I'm am confused, please clarify. Thanks

I have in the past and am currently using a factoring company and have never been charged more than 8%, I am being charged 6% right now. How it works, I send my receivables, say for example $10,000. they deposit $8000. in my account within a day, they then collect my receivables 100% and then release the remaining $2400. to me them keeping $600.

Maybe I am confused or reading your post wrong but you cannot file s corp without being a corporation or LLC. Sole proprietors cannot claim s corp status. Also, there are many agencies that will let you work thru them as an IC, maybe you just haven't found them. The advantage to being IC thru an agency is...they get you jobs and a paycheck usually every week, you get a 1099 every January and you do your own taxes and such. I would say if you have facilities wanting to use you as true IC (1099) status I say go for it but be aware that you will not get that weekly paycheck, after you invoice them it can be up to 90 days before you get paid so make sure you can stretch your dollars. It would not be very professional to just work for a while then leave them hangin' because you are short of money and need to go agency or something. Don't take this wrong but from your posts it sounds like you need to do some more research before jumping into something and getting more than you bargained for or worse...going bankrupt. Good Luck!

Nursing agency owner here....don't know about Wyoming but I guess I should move my agency there because my bill rates for the midwest are around $35-37. Wow, I don't even know anyone who bills $65, not even in California.

I looked into this several years ago and what I found out is you had better have deep pockets. I tried to get funding for an assisted living home...like an actual house that people live in and you hire staff to take care of them. Could not even find a bank to back it, there are just to many expenses and the liability on my license would have been enormous...ADA compliance, fire sprinkler systems, JCAHO, staffing issues, etc... you get the idea. If your heart is set on it there are resources out there, each state has their own AL association, start there. Good Luck!

I asked the same question awhile back and didn't get a response but what I have ended up doing is hiring a nanny and she is going to travel with me and take care of my 2 year old since I felt very uncomfortable trying to find day/evening care in an unknown area. Crossing my fingers that it will work out. I wouldn't even think twice of taking a 13 year old, I bet he would love it...just plan fun things to do on your days off with him. Good luck!

I always volunteer to work all of the holidays...it's quiet and oh yea, about $45 and hour. My kids ages 15 & 2 don't mind having xmas a day early or late as long as they have it.

Where I work (special purpose school) they are called mental health workers, about 75% have a bachelors degree in some type of social service or psychology the rest are still in college.

My first job out of nursing school I worked with a nurse that when we were supposed to destroy drugs together she took them. I reported this to the DON and was told that it wasn't my place to be concerned. When it happened again I went ahead and gave my notice, a couple of years later I found out that nurse had lost her license due to a different incident so I went back to the facility to see about working there again because I did really enjoy my job and was told by the same DON that she would not rehire me because I was not a team player. I am much older and wiser now thank goodness!