Same patient, multiple agencies/roles

[sewinnett, ASN, RN]

Hello,

I am an RN working for a medically complex child through a pediatric home care company (Company 'A').

We have many open shifts as our nursing coverage in our area is low. The parent has chosen to hire PCA staff to help cover open family shifts when nurses aren't available. That staff is paid for by the patient's medical waiver (Company 'B').

Parent is in charge of training his staff. We nurses cannot help train them during a Company 'A' shift because they are not employed by us and there are major liability issues with that!

Question:

Can I ALSO be employed by Company 'B' to help train the PCA's? (within their scope of practice of course!) I have some time to offer and the parent really wants someone with a medical background to help perform the training due to his child's complex status.

1. I would not be taking open nursing shifts away from Company 'A' while performing a training shift for Company 'B', so there is no competition in what I am doing. Dad would have that specific shift labeled for training purposes only.

2. If I did want to pick up an open nursing shift, I would do so through Company 'A', the nursing agency, because that is my full time employer and commitment.

3. Parent prefers nursing coverage over PCA coverage, and gives a fair 2 week warning for all nurses to pick up open shifts before he tries to fill them himself with PCA's.

Thoughts? Anyone in a similar situation or have experience with this?

[caliotter3]

Yes, you can be employed by both agencies at the same time for the same patient. While there may appear to be a conflict of interest, you just need to keep strict boundaries. Best not to be too chatty with either entity about your employment relationship with the other. I have been in such a situation. It turned out that hard feelings came about because Company A thought that what was good for Company A was not good for Company B. They were fine and dandy about hiring personnel from Company B for simultaneous employment, but when one of their own staff went to Company B for the same deal in reverse, they acted all put out about it. So, it is best to keep your extracurricular activities to yourself and warn the other nurses to do the same. No good can come from rivalry between management at Company A and management at Company B. The lowly staff get wounded in the cross-fire.

[sewinnett, ASN, RN]

It is nice to hear someone else's experience. Thank you!