I started HH 3 weeks ago, had 2 weeks of a very quick and disjointed orientation. This week I was sent out on my own, and have had 2 to 3 patients a day. It may not sound like much to the more experienced, but I have never done home health, I have been in a hospital the last 25 years. The paper work is unbelievable, but what is hardest for me is the way you have to chart..I do not think I will ever get that right ! And let's not even get into the icd-9 codes, v-codes. I was told, Oh..you will pick that up on the way. I can't even figure out how to do the frequency for visits. When I got to the office this afternoon, I was told I would have to do another start of care tomorrow.."because we have 3 new admits and no one else to do them, so you will have to do one." I have literally been in tears on several occasions. Next week I am already up to 4-5 pts. a day. I have been driving about a hundred miles a day just seeing 2 to 3 pts......I guess what is really bothering me is that after 25 years in the hospital, I knew my job inside and out....could handle any situation..now i just feel totally and hopelessly lost. I was so tired of the hospital and its short staffing, thought home care might be better...but what I see happening now is seeing pts. all day and doing paperwork at night at home. The words "I quit" keep running through my head all day. Maybe I should quit. Other home health nurses tell me to stick it out for 3 to 6 months, until I feel comfrotable and have a stronger knowledge base. I just do not know what to do (wiping away a few tears) Well that it is my vent, thanks for anyone reading through this pity party of a story !!!
Thanks, Hoolahan. I just guess I expect the same from others in working situations and often don't get even half of the support needed. I worked until 10:00 PM this evening, and will see patients and be on call tomorrow. I was even called while I was in the home of a very ill patient, after 5 PM, waiting on call from Doc to advise him patient was in early CHF, from supervisor and was so sweetly asked to see patient in closeby area after I finished. It seems the "ON CALL" nurse was too tired from working her other job to answer this patients call. I would have seen this patient, but they did not want to pay me call rate, just add him on as a favor. This has been a nightmare of a job. I know they are trying to figure out a way to get me to see a patient on Thanksgiving that the On Call nurse should see but he is closer to me than her. They will not pay me call pay so no way am I going out for regular rate of pay.
Also seeing the skills of many of my coworkers are very low, I am always going out to get blood, or start an IV or change a catheter on one of their patients. I would not care if they would swap a patient with me while I picked up theirs but this always seems to happen when I have seem my full schedule and I am ready to call it a day. I have gotten so I say my cell phone won't pick up in some areas. Did labs on a patient and was questioned as to why my lab results were so different than regular nurses, I did an actual stick and took lab to hospital in less than an hour. Regular nurse always drew from site of line, after wasting 10cc of course, but took labs to facility over an hours drive away. I just went over procedure step by step according to protocol and was finally told I did the right thing. My question was, why was regular nurse not following protocol? Still waiting for an answer. Like I said, HH is great if you are with the right company I guess, but I am going to mosey to another position after the holidays if possible.
OMG! Not picking on you Barefootlady (can I call you BFL for short?), but you NEED to learn the word NO. As long as you never say no, you will keep getting dumped on. Get out asap!! And before you get your next job, I want you to stand in front of the mirror and say "No, I am not able to work OT today, I have another engagement." "No, I need to go home to my family now." "No, I am ____________" whatever!!
You are too good. I would NEVER work a holiday for straight time, EVER!! I am working tomorrow, volunteered because I am making $45/hr, plus mileage.
WOW what responses and I have to agree with a reply I hate to admit it but too many of these places are too concerned with the almighty dollar rather than the patients well being its very sad
Well, before I hit the road I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I am really going to have a busy day. Everyone stay safe on the roads today.
BFL, I was really lucky and got cancelled today because we were slow. It wasn't clarified though, so I did get up and show up to work, but hey, I got the day off, so who's gonna complain? I decided to hit the 24/7 supermarket and buy some croissants, and breakfast foods, and make a nice breakfast for the family who were still asleep when I got home, and woke up to bacon frying.
Stay safe. And put the charts aside when you get home, just enjoy your family. Happy Thanksgiving.
First, let me say, I have applied to a hospital...but it seems in the atlanta area, there is not that much of a shortage of nurses, and I need to believe that, because the alternative thought would be that no hospital wants ME. I had quit my last job due to some burnout, mostly because of the manager of that unit. I was at home for 2 months, thinking I would be getting calls from all the hospitals..this HH company was the only offer I got. I did go in with a good attitude, and glad to be making some money again. Maybe I did go into HH nursing with very unrealistic ideas of what HH would be like, maybe I did have the wrong conceptions of what HH nursing was like......but have I ever been slapped in the face with the realities of it ! And I do have a very stubborn streak, and I know I can do this job...it has just not clicked with me yet, how. And after reading the posts here, and just with some good common sense, I realize this company I work for is not the best, and I want to think this is the worst run office in HH, because if there are many more offices/companies run like this, HH is in serious trouble. More ranting in just a bit....need coffee.....
I took call for thanksgiving....wednesday evening at 6pm, the office called and said I had a start for thursday, without going into detail..everything they told me was wrong, from how to do wound care, to pts. insurance. We only have 1 HHA working at the moment and she has been out all week...who knows who is bathing any of these patients. Last Monday, I finally got the 485's for my patients, after seeing those patients for weeks, and that had made it very hard for me to know what to chart as far as goals, and to know what to teach. As this way of charting is so different than in the hospital, I need all the help I can get. I still do not know how to schedual the patients, and have been asking for the start of care dates and frequencies on each pt., and even now that I have the 485's, I know some of the frequencies are wrong. It is truely such a mess. But I am going to stick this out for awhile...not let them walk all over me, give me too many pt's. to see in a day, or make my life miserable. So there !!!!!!
here I am working, out seeing patients, while every other nursr is in the office finishing end of the month paper work. I am going to have my day tomorrow. I am going to finish all of these summaryies, and such, and let them go see patients. I have already said it to the CM, she just looked at me, well, she better figure out what would be best, give me time to do some of this or do without all together.
I only in HH for 3 months...this is third company. they all back out on what they say . They are making me code my SOC's. i AM NOT READY FOR THAT! but if i dont i get called into the office (75 miles away).
They are not willing to work with faxing the oasis , mailing it etc....(like they said. I am covering a different county and they want me to act local!!)
i had post op, recert and visit today but spent 8 h ours on the road and in the office doing corrections!!! Cant make a living that way!!
I was supposed to start with 2 pts.per day this week, building up to 3 at end of week. Next week starting at 3, building up to 4, then next week, full load (and I have no idea how many that will be). This is what was told to me by the nurse orienting me. Well the nursing supervisor is not sticking to that. This morning she told me I had to do a SOC, along with my 3.....this start of care was about 45 miles from where I would be, and just seeing these 3 today I knew I would log about 100 miles. I told her that was not how things were set up for me, and I got this story about how pts. had to be seen, I could worry about the paper work later. Later when...on my own time....? I told her I had been in nursing way too long to start working for free now, and that I would see my 3 pts. today, but it would be my last day. She called me about an hour later...asking me to think it over on the week-end, and that HH nursing changes a lot, and I must be flexible. I told her I was still in orientation, and if they could not stick to what they said my load would be, then maybe this job was just not right for me. I can be flexible....but I am still learning this job, and I feel they are not as concerned about what kind of job I do, just as long as a pt. gets "seen" Maybe I am being unrealistic. But dang it, I feel like I have been lied to and taken for granted already. This is why I left the hospital...just being treated like a number, being given too many pts. to actually give good nursing care to. But I see now, this seems to be happening in all areas of nursing. I am going to stick it out for a while, but I will be searching for other avenues of employment. You know the old saying "the best time to find a job is when you already have one!" The sad thing is that this HH company was started by a bunch of nurses 2 1/2 yrs ago. How quickly we forget !
I started HH 3 weeks ago, had 2 weeks of a very quick and disjointed orientation. This week I was sent out on my own, and have had 2 to 3 patients a day. It may not sound like much to the more experienced, but I have never done home health, I have been in a hospital the last 25 years. The paper work is unbelievable, but what is hardest for me is the way you have to chart..I do not think I will ever get that right ! And let's not even get into the icd-9 codes, v-codes. I was told, Oh..you will pick that up on the way. I can't even figure out how to do the frequency for visits. When I got to the office this afternoon, I was told I would have to do another start of care tomorrow.."because we have 3 new admits and no one else to do them, so you will have to do one." I have literally been in tears on several occasions. Next week I am already up to 4-5 pts. a day. I have been driving about a hundred miles a day just seeing 2 to 3 pts......I guess what is really bothering me is that after 25 years in the hospital, I knew my job inside and out....could handle any situation..now i just feel totally and hopelessly lost. I was so tired of the hospital and its short staffing, thought home care might be better...but what I see happening now is seeing pts. all day and doing paperwork at night at home. The words "I quit" keep running through my head all day. Maybe I should quit. Other home health nurses tell me to stick it out for 3 to 6 months, until I feel comfrotable and have a stronger knowledge base. I just do not know what to do (wiping away a few tears) Well that it is my vent, thanks for anyone reading through this pity party of a story !!!
:crying2:
Hang in there, I am a Home Health Nurse for 9 mths now. I visit 6-7 patients daily. We document on computers. Admissions are a nightmare! It gets easier. I start my day a 8Am and end my day by 2-3 pm. some days are longer. I try to do all paper work in my car before going on to the next patient. Some days are better than others. With Home Care. Patient care is the easy part, paper work is the hardest. I don't cry so much now. Once you learn the paper work, you will like the flexibility. As far as the traveling goes, I start off at the patient who lives out of the way and work my way back. I see the new nurses starting, and they all get overwhelmed. Hang in there
:crying2:
barefootlady, ADN, RN
2,174 Posts
Thanks, Hoolahan. I just guess I expect the same from others in working situations and often don't get even half of the support needed. I worked until 10:00 PM this evening, and will see patients and be on call tomorrow. I was even called while I was in the home of a very ill patient, after 5 PM, waiting on call from Doc to advise him patient was in early CHF, from supervisor and was so sweetly asked to see patient in closeby area after I finished. It seems the "ON CALL" nurse was too tired from working her other job to answer this patients call. I would have seen this patient, but they did not want to pay me call rate, just add him on as a favor. This has been a nightmare of a job. I know they are trying to figure out a way to get me to see a patient on Thanksgiving that the On Call nurse should see but he is closer to me than her. They will not pay me call pay so no way am I going out for regular rate of pay.
Also seeing the skills of many of my coworkers are very low, I am always going out to get blood, or start an IV or change a catheter on one of their patients. I would not care if they would swap a patient with me while I picked up theirs but this always seems to happen when I have seem my full schedule and I am ready to call it a day. I have gotten so I say my cell phone won't pick up in some areas. Did labs on a patient and was questioned as to why my lab results were so different than regular nurses, I did an actual stick and took lab to hospital in less than an hour. Regular nurse always drew from site of line, after wasting 10cc of course, but took labs to facility over an hours drive away. I just went over procedure step by step according to protocol and was finally told I did the right thing. My question was, why was regular nurse not following protocol? Still waiting for an answer. Like I said, HH is great if you are with the right company I guess, but I am going to mosey to another position after the holidays if possible.