twinpumpkin

I have worked for several different BrightStar offices. Most positions are prn or part-time. I've never been asked to have anything done before an interview. My experience is the better the office staff, the easier your job will be. I continue to work for them to have different clinical experiences and if one location doesn't have any work for you, try another.

What you have heard is correct. They are totally different types of CM. Instead of working in the field and interacting with patients in person, providing hands-on nursing care and education, I now work in an office, sit in a cubicle all day, have no window to even look outdoors and interact with my patients via telephone and computer. While I do miss interacting with my patients, the hours are definitely better in corporate CM - I work 4 days a week, 0830-1730 with an hour for lunch, no nights, weekends or holidays and get paid holidays. The work-life balance is much better, too. As a home health CM, I often was finishing my charting for the day after my kids went to bed and never knew exactly what time I was going to get home each night, due to possible patient complications, traffic, etc. In my experience, the potential income is better in non-HH case management. I am bored at times and never planned or wanted to work in the corporate world. However, I do remind myself that I am still helping patients who are ill and there is a support system among our group of care coordinators/case managers. I hope that my description gives you a glimpse of the differences/similarities of case management in various locations. Good luck! Twinpumpkin

What is a MICN and a PHRN?

Nursing school emphasizes hospital employment, but there are so many other places to work. I work for a physicians' group M-F 830a-530p with no nights, weekends or holidays. I don't think I'll ever return to hospital/bedside nursing.

I have worked PRN for a BrightStar office in my city for about 9 months now and have had only one bad experience. I started off doing patient assessments for long-term health care companies, then would help at the local military bases doing immunizations and lab draws for soldiers getting ready to deploy overseas. Most recently, I have been instructing patients on how to self-administer growth hormone injections or medication for rheumatoid arthritis. I had to get trained and certified to do the medication teaching. Perhaps I continue to get patients because this is Texas and I am bilingual in Spanish/English. It seems like all of my GH/RA patients are Spanish speaking.

Sounds like a fabulous environment to work in. I'm just curious, what state were you in?

I never wear scrubs to an interview! It is best to wear a professional outfit, like slacks and a blouse or a business suit (ex. something you would wear to church). This makes you look professional and mature.

I have heard this many times spoken by educated professionals. In my experience, those who say "on yesterday" or "on today" are members of a certain race. It bothers me, too, and I've always wondered why it's said that way.

Some home health agencies have psych nurses and some don't. It just depends on the agency whether or not you'd get to see psych pts. Also, in my experience, home health agencies specialize in either adults or peds, but not both.

NRSKarenRN...Thank you for posting this information! :)

How much did the wheel cost? It reminds me of the pregnancy wheel, that OBs use to determine due date.

The one that bothers me the most is when someone says, "Where are you at"? Also, I'm not sure it's really grammar, but saying, "My bad" makes people sound stupid! Can't they just say, "oops"?

Interesting! I did not know that it was different. Thanks for sharing!

Right out of school, I worked 7p -7a three shifts a week. After getting adjusted, I enjoyed night shift. Like someone else said, there is less traffic, no dietary, less visitors and mist patients sleep. I currently work M-F days in home health and enjoy it. My hours are flexible and I can attend my kids' school activities. I do miss the 3 day work week but not the 12+ hour shifts.

As a former night-shift worker, I can relate to people waking you up. The worst part is the solicitors (phone and door). Put a "DO NOT DISTURB....SLEEPING" sign on the door and turn off the phone. Tell your daughter to call and leave you a voice mail or send you a text/e-mail if she wants to tell you something. If it is a true emergency, your ex can come bang on your door. It is very important to get your sleep, and our bodies do not adjust easily to daytime sleeping and nighttime working. It will get better in time. Good luck~!

REALLY??? The only time we had to wear all white was in nursing school...and that was within the last 5 years. Most hospitals in my area are color coded by job (i.e. nurses = royal blue scrubs, techs = another color, etc.) I would hate to be made to wear all white again! Don't these people know that there are some times of the mont that a woman just shouldn't wear white pants?

It is set up like this... The first # is the number of visits per week. The second # is the # of weeks you are doing that # of visits. Example: 3wk1 = 3 times a week for 1 week. A certification period is 9 weeks long, so your total of the 2nd #s must equal 9. Example: Pt was dc'd from hospital status post MI and was admitted to HH. The frequency is determined by the admitting RN. So, this patient's frequency may be: 2wk3 effective MM-DD-YYYY, then 1wk6 effective MMDDYYYY for a total of 9 weeks and 12 total visits. Hope this helps! Good luck!

I never heard about it but saw it on tv tonight. Unfortunately, I only saw the last few minutes, but it looked realistic, and not like a "reality show". It's something I will watch again.

When I first started in home health, it took me about 4-6 hours to complete a computer-based admission, which included visit time. This was due to the length of the admission "paperwork" and the learning curve of a new software system. Now I work for a smaller HHA, which uses paper and I find it takes me less time, approximately 2 hours, to do a 24-page admission. I ususally do the entire admission in the home since I know nothing about the patient prior to this visit. I let the patient know ahead of time that it will take 1.5 to 2 hours the first visit (only). They are usually very accomodating and cooperative. I find it is faster for me to do visits on paper than on the little hand-held PDA type computer that I used before. I have only been in HH for a year now and it is so much easier now that at the beginning. Time and practice will improve your charting time.

The only thing that really helped me beat test anxiety was hypnosis. Try it!

I have an iPhone and just got ICD-9 Pocket, ipharmacyFREE, iconnect-NE. These are all free apps. The iconnect-NE is for storing patient contact info/notes/pictures/etc.

WOW! I am shocked at some of the posts I just read. Erroridiot- I can't believe how much you've been through! You are truly brave to continue to work in HH with such experiences. The worst I've seen is an apartment infested with all sorts of bugs, trash, etc. The only "fear" I had was that a cockroach or rat was going to crawl on me!

Usually I try 2x then ask someone else to try. If the patient tell me beforehand that they are a hard stick or have rolling veins, I may only try once before enlisting help. As a patient, I would insist another nurse try after 3 failed attempts. I worked on a tele unit where we had a VenoScope but it was rarely used. The only reason I know about it and have used one is because my preceptor had his own and showed me how to use it. It is really cool! I wish I had one now.

I graduated in May 2008. I received a job offer in March 2008 and started as a GN intern June 5. Received passing NCLEX results June 26, 2008. Twinpumpkin (TX)

I wish there were places like these where I live (TX)! We have 2 large county hospitals which run community clinics near me but it is difficult to get hired. I am currently working in home health and feel like I help people every day :). I would like to work in a clinic, however.