Schedule and pay for a home hospice NP

[GEB16]

I'm currently a FNP working in family practice. I like my job but really struggling working a strict 8-5 pm job M-F. Very stressful. Not to mention I'm still stuck charting at home after 40 hrs, rarely eat lunch. I have two young children and my job is not flexible with my hours or days. I had thought about looking into a job as a home hospice NP where I would have more control over my schedule. Anyone have any experience with this? Was your schedule fairly flexible? Did you find more work/home balance? How about pay? Is it reasonable? What was your on call with weekends and holidays like? At this point, I'm not interested in more money. I'm interested in a better schedule to better suit my role as a mother and wife. Any input, stories, perspectives is greatly appreciated. 

[db2xs]

@GEB16 I worked in hospice for two years out of NP school. I was full-time. I will answer your Qs individually below.

On 6/21/2021 at 11:11 AM, GEB16 said:

Was your schedule fairly flexible?

More or less, yes. I would start looking at charts at 06:00 in the home but after an hour, I would take 1.5 hours to eat breakfast, get ready, etc., and I'd see my last patient at 15:00 most of the time. As long as I fulfilled my hours, at least at my agency it didn't matter when I worked (although they discouraged crazy after-hours, I did it anyway). 

On 6/21/2021 at 11:11 AM, GEB16 said:

Did you find more work/home balance?

Until I got used to the job, my work/life balance wasn't great. Thankfully as an NP, I had better control over my schedule than the RNs did.

On 6/21/2021 at 11:11 AM, GEB16 said:

How about pay? Is it reasonable

For a starting job, my pay was great. It paid more than a clinic job that I had applied for, and since I was hourly, any OT was time and a half. 

On 6/21/2021 at 11:11 AM, GEB16 said:

What was your on call with weekends and holidays like?

I did not have to be on call or work holidays. 

I also served as attending provider--that's what brings in the money, because we can bill. Anything else was not billable. Mileage was paid for but at less than the Federal rate (which, btw, is only a suggestion; your employer doesn't have to match it). My supervisor was not onsite, which had its pluses and minuses. 

If you have any more questions, I'd be happy to help.

[GEB16]

On 7/8/2021 at 10:41 AM, db2xs said:

@GEB16 I worked in hospice for two years out of NP school. I was full-time. I will answer your Qs individually below.

More or less, yes. I would start looking at charts at 06:00 in the home but after an hour, I would take 1.5 hours to eat breakfast, get ready, etc., and I'd see my last patient at 15:00 most of the time. As long as I fulfilled my hours, at least at my agency it didn't matter when I worked (although they discouraged crazy after-hours, I did it anyway). 

Until I got used to the job, my work/life balance wasn't great. Thankfully as an NP, I had better control over my schedule than the RNs did.

For a starting job, my pay was great. It paid more than a clinic job that I had applied for, and since I was hourly, any OT was time and a half. 

I did not have to be on call or work holidays. 

I also served as attending provider--that's what brings in the money, because we can bill. Anything else was not billable. Mileage was paid for but at less than the Federal rate (which, btw, is only a suggestion; your employer doesn't have to match it). My supervisor was not onsite, which had its pluses and minuses. 

If you have any more questions, I'd be happy to help.

That was very helpful. Thank you so much! Sounds like it may be a perfect fit for my current situation.  I may have some additional questions as I begin to look into specific agencies, but this gave me a great starting point. Thanks again!