cynda

Unfortunately we have quite a few that are montly for catheter changes or B12s, so we end up having to do an unpaid sup at least once a month, but we don't want to have to do any more than we have to,, the OASIS visit dates and the HHA sup dates just never seem to fall together,, so we end up making another unpaid visit.

Looking for some advice on how other agencies handle 14day supervisions...seems that all to often we end up making extra visits just to do the supervision. For example we have a patient needs to be seen tomorrow for the HHA supervisory visit(it is the 14th day), he is also due for Recertification visit but the fist day of the 5-day window for completing OASIS doesn't start until the day after the supervisory visit is due,,,,so now we end up making another visit for the Recert...hate to waste the time making extra visits just to complete paperwork.

Does anyone have a list of what amounts of specific supplies are considered reasonable amount to provide to patients. For example, how many catheter bags per episode or per month are to be provided by the agency? We typically order 1 night bag and 1 leg bag per month,, but some clients want new bags every week, this doesn't seem reasonable to me but I was looking for some sort of official guidelines to go by. How about dressing supplies,is a certain amount reimbursable?

We are always looking for ideas, we currently track, urinary device days and IV device days for bench marking. Let me know what you might be interested in doing. Can email me directly at [email protected]

At the agency I work we don't have any problem with being on call, one person takes call 7days/week(was voluntary) with the understanding that if a call comes in the staff nurse who resides closest to that patients house would make the visit if necessary(we cover 5 counties), this usually works out well since staff nurses don't want to be responsible for carrying the pager and being on call they are usually very good about running out when ever asked. Scheduled PM visits(which thankfully we don't have too many of) are done on a volunteer basis, we post a sign-up sheet and everyone signs up for a turn(so far this has worked very well also), that way no one person gets stuck doing the evening visit just because it is their patient. This might not work everywhere, we have a great bunch of people that are always willing to volunteer to do extra to help out their co-workers.

MO790-management of inhalent/mist medications Some of our nurses are not including meds such as Miacalcin, NTG spray as an inhalent or mist medication they are only including nebulizer tx or inhalers. Other nurses are including these types of drugs. Any opinions would be appreciated.

I was wondering how many visits per day most agencies do. Is mileage taken into consideration? I think 5-6 visits/day is pretty reasonable, we count an admission as 3 visits and any other oasis as 2 visits, so an admission and 3 revisits would total the 6. If i have too much less than this I find myself trying to look busy. Most of the nurses here start complaining if they have more than 4 visits to do that they can't get all of their paperwork done. Would be interested how it is in other areas. Thanks!

Sounds like you work for a very disorganized agency. I have been in home health for 15 years and wouldn't dream of doing anything else. The paperwork is demanding but with an organized system in place it is managable. Hate to see you give up on it,, I have always found it very rewarding. I worked on the road seeing clients for many years and have been in an office position(scheduling, audits, performance improvement, ect.) for the last couple of years. Would be happy to offer suggestions on anything you might need a hand with. [email protected]

I'm an LPN with almost 20 years experience. I am interested in pursuing my ASN degree. Going the traditional route isn't possible since i have a full-time day shift position and none of my local schools offer the required nursing courses in the evening. I have been thinking of trying Excelsior/Regeants University and would love to get in touch with someone currently in the program or who has completed the program. Feel free to email me [email protected] or [email protected]

I'm in NEPA,, we average about $20-25/hr for RNs, our paid time starts from the first visit until we finish at the end of the day,, this includes drive time,, we also get reimbursed mileage. No differential for difficult cases/admissions. We don't have an on-call requirement, we have a volunteer that is usually is on-call(me) at $15/day pay, plus regular time if I do have to go out on a visit in the evening(rarely happens, maybe twice in the last year)