Have you talked to anyone that works at your local agency? I would do that before making a decision. At my agencies (I work at 2) we are paid hourly and we absolutely ARE paid for our charting. Some days I might drive 3 miles, others I may drive 35, but we are paid for both our travel time and our mileage. Pay sounds like it varies greatly in different regions of the country and depending on how you are paid (per visit vs salary vs hourly). I think that I am very fairly paid. In my experience, Libby1987 is correct in saying that the first year is the toughest, and that being organized is a huge advantage. At my 6th month point, I felt like I was horrible at my job and was acutely aware of how much growth I still needed to attain. It was frustrating, but I read on here that it got better, and I forged ahead. :)
That said, there ARE some days that are stressful; days where you have multiple patients with unexpected issues crop up or you have multiple admissions, which are more time consuming. There ARE some days where I am not able to chart on everything before going home, but that is not my norm. Being behind on charting is the norm for some people at one of my agencies (the other does not tolerate late charting), even those nurses with YEARS of experience, so again, I think that being organized and focused is key.
At this point in my career, I wouldn't trade what I am doing for any other nursing job. It allows me to work a family-friendly schedule and I can typically arrange my schedule so that I can pick up my kids from school. I love my patients, I love having only one patient at a time to focus on, I love the impact I have on patient lives and love driving around and seeing the beauty of the landscape I live in. It would be extremely difficult for me to give that up and be stuck inside all day!! There are certainly downsides, especially if you work for an agency that doesn't give adequate orientation (mine did not, but I am a very strong independent learner and spent an incredible amount of off-work time researching and learning) but the upside for me, is absolutely worth it.
I think you need to sit down and think about why you are interested in switching to home health. Write a list of questions you have and then talk to someone at the agency where you want to work. Come back here an look for feedback, after you talk to someone. I think you can't really make a decision until you have a better idea of what things are like in YOUR area.
