RN'n'AZ

Thank you dearly for your input. That is actually a great idea. Sometimes I find myself stuck with 8-10 visits in a day so it is harder to do that. But I have made it my rule to NOT have that many in a day. When you are casemanaging a load of 40 visits per week the amount of time put in becomes outrageous. So, in answer to your response, yes that helps. :) Since we are all so autonomous in what we do, it would be great to see a thread develop where nurses share their little tricks of the trade. Anything from time management, a valuable piece of knowledge from "that wound that just would not heal!", scheduling visits, helpful ways of managing frequent orders that can become complicated . . . and the list goes on! I love home health but find my head spinning in circles sometimes, feeling like I need to become the patient. Lol! Also, we do have weekly case conference with our supervisor one-on-one. This is where I do seek clarification on my train wrecks, develop a new plan. This is where I get my head together, at least for a moment. :) Homecare never slows down and is full of fast balls that come from any and every direction. I have learned to just be flexible, resourceful, creative, and enjoy the ride! Woo-hoo! :)

Diaper bags are great, and not only do they make some very durable ones, be style-wise even those that dads would feel comfortalbe sporting. They are usually easy to clead due to the intended nature of their use. Lol Babies'R'Us is where I shop . . . They have a few other things there that I have found useful as well. Thanks!

You should be concerned for your safety! We all have a right to be safe. If an agency expects you to do something that is unsafe then do not let that be the norm or what is acceptable. In my experience with several agencies (field nurse and supervisor), us home health nurses have always been able to refuse to participate in a case that is unsafe. I have even called my director outside of a patient's home before even entering for the visit with safety concerns, only to turn around and drive the other way. I have heard several stories of nurses who did not follow their gut and were assaulted or found themselves in very uncomfortable and dangerous situations. This even happened to me on a few occaisons . . . one partial quad had a 22 cal. stuffed under his pillow, another lived in a meth house, another was a physically aggressive psych patient. Actually, most agencies in my area do not even accept psych patients due to the risk involved. You should always come first and as for your agency, well they put themselves at risk by risking you as workmans comp for employee injuries plus the lost productivity of the affected nurse. I understand that every geographical region has their trends and methods, but I stand firm on this one . . . my opinion. :) Our families needs us, the profession needs us.

Hello fellow nurses! I am a home health RN in Scottsdale, AZ. I have been practicing in this field for about five years now, mostly in management but now have returned to the field. I am a VERY thorough person and do quite a bit of teaching with my patients. We are medicare and therefore have tons of paperwork. I am trying to find ways to be more time efficient as I do about 25-30 visits per week and find myself spending most of the evenings and weekends doing paperwork and care coordination after an 8-10 hour day. My biggest gripe is that I feel like I make most of the effort in care coordination with other disciplines when I feel is should be their responsibility to report to me as a case manager as well when I referred them to the patient. I feel like I am on the phone all of the time. Anyways . . . What ideas have you as a home health nurse found to be helpful in being efficient while still delivering quality of care? Anything is appreciated. Thanks!