Sad to leave LTC but not sure what to do?

[pn2rn08]

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[Luv2care0907]

Home health is a unique field of nursing. You are going into someone's home and caring for a family member that is usually chronically ill. In the hospital or LTC facility, you do get close to people but on hospital turf. In the home setting, you get to know these people intimately, their problems, their family life, their issues good and bad. Some people are very clean and organized. Some people are not. Some people are naturalists. Others like to follow AMA advice to the letter. In the home setting, instead of the hospital having jurisdiction, the family has jurisdiction. You can offer advice and share your concerns, but ultimately in this setting, we are doing things their way. . . up unto the point that it is unethical. This can be very tricky because things can creep up unexpectedly.

I love home health better than hospital because I enjoy the closeness and offering my help to people. I like the slower pace and I like giving one-on-one care. I am much better at that. But there is one thing that is a major downside and that is money. HH agencies do not pay more than what either an insurance company or Medicaid will pay per hour for the nurse. Insurance companies pay much better than Medicaid does. Those jobs are offered to the more seasoned folks. There is case management where you oversee the clients and keep track of the records. That pays well.

I just recently got a pay cut because Medicaid declared my position something that an LPN could do. That is heart wrenching for me. I can't get a job in the hospital because they are refusing to hire me. So, I am doing the only job that was available - HH.

[pn2rn08]

Thank you for the post. It hit all aspects I was wondering about as well as good points that every field has it pros/cons just depends on which ones you want to deal with. I enjoy the closeness of the LTC residents & feel I'm providing much more quality care than what I could in the hospital due to the hecticness. Sorry to hear about the pay cut. What state do you work in?

[pn2rn08]

PS: I'm thinking of dropping my hrs at the LTC to 16 hr week so I can have less ties but still take care of the residents I enjoy & pick up part time or per diem with a HH agency.

[Luv2care0907]

Sorry to hear about the pay cut. What state do you work in?

I work in Florida. I am a little concerned about giving out too much personal information on this list. But suffice it to say that where I live, being a nurse is very very difficult. And you?

[pn2rn08]

update I left the nursing home I was working for and have been given the chance to advance to unit manager or staff development coordinator :) There is still hope in LTC just not there

[tewdles, RN]

I am glad that you have found another home in LTC. It is important that we work where our passion lies...IMHO.