GeriatrxRN

Best bet is to hire several live-in staff and they can alternate their days off; much cheaper. Also, you will have to consider if you need two staff per shift or one (depends on residents' level of care needs, including if two person transfer etc).

I wonder if people are realizing that this post is 4 yrs old; some people are still answering the post/giving advice as if it was posted recently. Also wonder what happened to the op and if he found another job or what...he never posted after the original post.

I am also interested in this...

What state are you in ?

I used to own one a few yrs ago. Few things to consider prior to opening it: 1. Referral source 2. Competition (from other small group homes like yourself and larger ALF) 3. Location (nice suburbs preferably) 4. Good staff (they make all the difference) Also, double check w/your state licensing whether or not you can provide nursing care to the residents; in my state you can't. But you can get around that by working for a skilled care agency and providing skilled nursing for the cert period , just like you would for any other home care patient. Good Luck!

In michigan medicaid recently approved a program that supplements what a person with low income can afford to pay ( ie using their ssi check). Check what programs your state has. I work as an RN assessor for Area Agency on Aging which is why i know this. Also what kind of figures were you using where this wouldn't be lucrative?

It sounds kind of low to me. I'm a home care RN, and I get paid $55 for revisits (the one unit you were talking about) and $85 for initial visits (the 2 units). No milage reinbursment though, but no oncall either. But don't forget , when they pay you per visit that means the paperwork that goes with it, (which takes a while, esp the initial visits).

I'm also interested in becoming a geriatric case manager and was wondering if you knew if insurances or other modes of payment (other than private pay) would pay for this type of service. Also, if you don't mind , what type of rates were you thinking of charging the client. I've heard that some case managers charge by the hour and others by the case. Thanks in advance for your response and good luck in your venture!

I work in home care, not hospice, but was wondering where/how you would generate your clients, since you would be competing with medicare, a free service.

I've read several posts where RN's want to bill medicare for home visits but can't since you would need to have an established home care agency. It's something that has interested me as well, so I was wondering if it wouldn't be easier to just open a staffing agency, where you could refer yourself to a home care agency and ask for a certain amount per visit. Of course it would be higher than they would normally pay since you would be bringing in your own clients. Any thoughts on this? Are there any medicare rules/reg pertaining to staffing agencies? I currently work for both a staffing agency and a home care agency. I have the possibility to generate medicare clients (from established connections with dr's, assisted living, etc), but don't want to work as a marketer. I would prefer to be compensated for both bringing in clients as well as making the home visits. I also know that its illegal to get compensated for referring clients (ie per head), so I'm trying to find a good medium (and legal way) for doing this. Thanks in advance for your comments/advice:)

How much do home care agencies get paid by medicare for RN visits? I noticed on the medicare website that for 2009 skilled nursing visits were listed as $109 and for 1010 as $111. Is this just a base rate and increases as patient complexity/increase in skilled nursing care is needed or is it a flat rate? Thanks in advance for your response:)

Hi, I recently graduated with my BSN degree and love working in the geriatrics field (have been doing it for the past 10 years). My question is: Should I go for the GNP or , as so many have recommended, go for the ANP? My dilemma is that I would like to only work with the geriatric population, but fear that I wouldn't be able to get a GNP job (since there's not that many out there). Also, I love the idea of the GNP program where it would be specific to the population I'm interested in, whereas the ANP will include adolescence which doesn't interest me. My goal is to work full-time and go to grad school part-time, thus finishing in aprox 5 yrs and getting some nursing experience in the meantime. I'd love to hear thoughts from both GNP's and ANP's. The two GNP's I've spoken with also have their ANP, so that didn't help much. Also, would you recommend that I work in a skilled nursing home vs a hospital to get the max experience/exposure to this population? Thanks in advance for your comments!

I'm sure a lot of us new grads would like to know what city you live in. LOL. I'm in Troy, Michigan (northern suburb of Detroit) and I've been told by a hospital nurse recruiter that although there's a nursing shortage she said that there is a hiring bubble right now. She stated that they're not hiring due to the fact that nurses are not retiring because of the state of the economy plus nurses that were working part-time are now picking up extra shifts or switching to full time due to the fact that their husbands are out of a job from the automotive industry. She also stated that she's not sure how long this bubble will last, but as soon as these nurses retire there will be a big nursing shortage. (Maybe that's what she meant by nursing shortage). She also said that MI state health dept called her and requested that when they are hiring again to contact them since they are having a problem with the fact that a lot of MI nurses are leaving the state. I'm not sure if this is unique to our state because of the layoffs from the auto industry, but from reading other posts it seems like a lot of other states are having the same hiring issues.

Just FYI, this is the way I found it to work for me...I'm not sure what they would consider it to be the "correct" way to put on stockings for your CNA skills. You might want to ask your instructor.

I usually start by laying the stocking on the bed normal (not inside out) then folding it in half so that it is inside out half way...and then put it on like you would a normal stocking. Keep it folded in half while you are putting it on, and as seam-less as possible. When you get it to around the calf area (which should be the top of your folded stocking) unfold it and pull it up. I found that this way, it really cuts down on the tightness around the foot caused by bunched up stockings and helps you maneuver them more easily. Good Luck!