poko

Hi there! Has the school given anymore perspective on how to find clinicals? I have been speaking with the admissions advisor, and I was inquiring about any scholarships and bursaries , but they won't discuss that with me right now. From your experience (maybe personal or other students) do you know if the school is generous with giving any kind of bursaries or scholarships at all?

I have been accepted for 2025 and trying to decide what to do.! Would love some perspective/ opinions on the program too

I was hired as a new grad in HH. I was a student actually there for 3 months prior so that was essentially my training. There was so much more to learn, but with the right environment and if you have supportive management and educators, you can definitely thrive. Don't be afraid to ask any questions or make calls for assistance when you're in the home. Make sure you know who can call for help. it sounds like the company is being very respectful towards your knowledge base and experience and to me this is a great sign. If you're ever pressured to go into a situation that you aren't prepared for, don't hesitate to let them know you can't take the assignment until you get further training or preceptor visits. Good luck. I personally believe that home health can be very appropriate for a new grad especially if you can start out with less complex patients.

Spot on curlynurse! Very well said!

I am not familiar with the term SOC/ROC as these aren't used where I am. But generally we will see about 8-12 patients per day depending on staffing. It's usually on the higher side. I've worked both rural and urban areas and would usually do anywhere from 10km to 100 km of driving total for the shift. Urban areas = less km but more traffic, rural is the opposite. we also rotate through an on call schedule every few days where one nurse is available after hours for any urgent patient calls. In my province, we do home health visits (wounds, IV, meds, ostomy, catheter care, tubes/ lines/ drains of all sorts and many other things) and also we provide palliative care. My understanding is that many of the US companies tend to offer "home health" on its own or hospice providers. I could be mistaken. Most of our visits are routine ones (scheduled wound care, I.e. q3d dressing change, or daily IV med administration like abx). We also get "admissions" which are the patient's first visit when they come on service with us. In an average week, a full time nurse might have 50-60 visits, and maybe 5-6 of them would be admissions- these take longer. Unfortunately where I have worked, we still do paper charting as well which adds work. The visits can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, which is most common, to a few hours at the worst case (end of life unstable palliative with complex needs or unresolved symptoms). I have worked both for companies that pay hourly and per visit. Both have pros and cons. Typically, because our health care is provincially funded through tax dollars, the system is very streamlined and the pay and function is similar where ever you go in home care.

I am a Canadian home care nurse and therefore my perspective is likely different as we operate differently here. $300/ week in USD seems on the low end. At my worst paying home care job I was still making around $250 per day (Canadian dollars, so approx $190 USD) plus 41 cents per kilometre. in terms of workload and feeling like your do a lot of work unpaid- yes me too. Many hours of administrative tasks after hours because I couldn't find time during my day to complete them. Often a lot of difficulty contacting care providers especially through fax correspondence (which is a huge means of communication still in our health system here sadly). is it worth it? Only you can tell for yourself after weighing pros and cons. Perhaps another American can chime in with comments regarding salary. For me, I love the flexibility and autonomy of the job. But there's much to be said about the pay.

I am a home care palliative RN. I'd be willing to help. Shoot me a message with what you need!

I haven’t joined a group, or started one yet, but we should! What is the easiest way to do this?

For sure

Hi there, congrats on the job! I live in Canada, and things are different here in home care nursing. I am not sure where you are from, but I just mention that because it seems there are many US home care nurses on here ? Here are some of my organizational go-tos that I find helpful- I would suggest carrying a notebook with dividers and writing down everything in one book in different sections! Supply ordering items, important numbers, physician numbers/ faxes. I always write my patients info down daily (addresses and phone numbers) in case I am in an area where I cant pull this info up. I phone patients as I work. Carry extra shoes with you. And socks. Heck, maybe an extra set of clothes just in case. I wear rubber boots in some places where I am afraid of picking up bugs. Get a trunk organizer! Oh and a bag you can wear on your back so you don't have to place anything on potentially unkempt floors/ furniture Keep snacks and water in your trunk! have an extra phone charger or two with you. If you have harsh winters where you are, keep warm clothes, a shovel and cat litter in your car! Get a huge road mug for coffee too! Good luck to you ?

Hi Michelle, sorry I didn't realize I had replies or notifications either here on this site. I do apologize. But I am still interested!

Do you live in Ontario? If so I would go with Nipissing, for the sake of clinical placement location.

I don’t know of any myself, but I would be interested in joining one or Starting one too. I work as a home care RN in Canada, with some of my clients being hospice palliative care clients, and hospice is a huge interest of mine.

Just to continue answering more of your questions. I work for two different companies, by choice, part time. I spend my day travelling to patient's home. Some of the things I do: - wound care and dressing changes (diabetic foot ulcers, surgical wounds, VAC dressings, wound packing, pressure ulcer treatment, prevention, traumatic wounds, venous leg ulcers, arterial wound treatments, compression therapy) - G/J/NG tube feeds, medication adminstration - Foley catheterization, in/out catheterization, teaching I/O cath - Central line dressing changes and flushing/ maintenance (PICCs, Hickmans, Ports, Aphersis), port access, de-access - Chemotherapy disconnects. Assessments that go alongside oncology patients -TPN adminstration and teaching - peripheral IVs- starts, d/c, infusions -medication admin- injections (s/c, I'm), oral, topical, eye drops. IV abx, hydration, potassium, magnesum, lasix -ostomy changes and teaching -palliative care- stable and end of life care, death pronouncements -subcut pain pump management -trach care -chest physiotherapy (when trained appropriately on routine) -ESAS assessments - Diabetic management, insulin admin, teaching, to both adults and kids Much more.. but this gives you an idea of the skills I use often and assessments that go along side that

I am a Canadian home care nurse. I was fortunate and did my final preceptorship in home care, where I learned A LOT! I was hired as well after I graduated. I have been working home care for 5.5 years now. I couldn't picture myself successfully navigating my way though home care nursing without clinical experience as a student there first. As a new grad without any exposure to home care, I don't think I would have been too successful. My suggestion is that if you are very interested in home care, try and arrange your final pre-graduate/ preceptorship placement in a home care agency. You will learn a lot.