Sick of Medsurg; might Home health be the way to go for me?

Lorie P. · Mar 19, 2009

first of all welcome! since you have a year of med/surg experience start by searching the hh agencies in your area. look on your states department of labor web site. try loking in the yellow pages and call around, you will be surprised at the hha that are hiring yet really don't advertise.

good luck

paradiseboundRN · Mar 19, 2009

Don't let the economy worry you. Most of the patients in home care have Medicare and that really hasn't been affected (at least in my area). Examine the reasons why you want to leave your job. If it's the hospital setting and the politics that you don't like, but you do like med-surg nursing than home care might be a good fit for you. That was my situation. I liked the nursing, I just hated the chaos of the hospital. Most of the work in home care is med-surg nursing. Don't be afraid to leap. You can always go back to the hospital or try some other type of nursing if you hate it. I left the hospital after 2 years part-time and have never looked back. I love home care! And don't let the home care paperwork scare you. You get used to it pretty quick. As far as finding a job, you can post your resume on Careerbuilder and other sites for free. Also, email or send your resume to all the hospital based home care agencies. They usually hire "new to home care nurses" and have a very good orientation. Good Luck!

scoloya · Mar 20, 2009

Don't let the economy worry you. Most of the patients in home care have Medicare and that really hasn't been affected (at least in my area). Examine the reasons why you want to leave your job. If it's the hospital setting and the politics that you don't like, but you do like med-surg nursing than home care might be a good fit for you. That was my situation. I liked the nursing, I just hated the chaos of the hospital. Most of the work in home care is med-surg nursing. Don't be afraid to leap. You can always go back to the hospital or try some other type of nursing if you hate it. I left the hospital after 2 years part-time and have never looked back. I love home care! And don't let the home care paperwork scare you. You get used to it pretty quick. As far as finding a job, you can post your resume on Careerbuilder and other sites for free. Also, email or send your resume to all the hospital based home care agencies. They usually hire "new to home care nurses" and have a very good orientation. Good Luck!

Thanks for your reply, paradiseboundRN;

I am going to apply for HH and see what happens. Do you have any advise on how i should handle my job reference . I don't want to use my manager for reference since i don't want to lose my job before i get the HH one. Will it be ok to use a co-worker and former preceptor instead of my manager?

scoloya · Mar 20, 2009

Thanks for your reply nurse hobbit.

paradiseboundRN · Mar 21, 2009

Yes, you can use a co-worker or your preceptor. Employers understand that you want to keep your job search confidential. Do you have any copies of your reviews or evaluations? I always ask for copies after the review and then show them when interviewing (only when the review is good, of course) :wink2:

jnette, ASN, EMT-I · Mar 22, 2009

Wish you the best in your job search, Scoloya !!! :nurse:

I think you're definately on the right track.. and the reasons you stated are so much the very reasons most who are now in HH have opted to go that route. A true breath of fresh air, very liberating, very rewarding !

Don't jump at the first offer, first agency.. see what's out there and compare notes.. then choose that which suits your needs best !

Keep us posted, and good luck ! :up:

scoloya · Mar 23, 2009

Thanks Nurse JNETTE. I will let you know what happens :-)

GrumpyRN63, ADN, RN · Mar 30, 2009

you can just put 'references available upon request' on your resume, if they are truly interested, after the interview you can give them ~2 or 3 references from coworkers, never need to use your employer, they don't need to be contacted, the agency will just confirm your dates of employment with HR, presenting that annual review is great,{considering it's favorable} ( did it myself ) it's all there in black and white, a reference all by itself.

As far as the job itself, you will use all of your skills in HH, (and learn/refine many), spend lots of one-on-one time w/your pts, lots of teaching. I too am totally sick of the weekly new documentation I am faced with when I work in the hospital- I don't know how long I can continue per diem with the never-ending BS, it NEVER ends. The HH charting in our agency is pretty nice, laptop, drop down tabs, click, click,click and you can put free-hand notes/addendums as well. OASIS is the only drawback.

scoloya · Mar 30, 2009

Thanks for your advice :-)

RNRutRO · Mar 31, 2009

Scoloya

I personally LOVE home health. It allows me to be a mom MOST of the time and is so flexible. I too love people. But, I will say this, I find the paperwork sometimes a nightmare in home health. I have 7 OASIS documents that I have to do right now. UGH! My main company is still on paper, so it seems like I have to document the same things on three different forms. Luckily, they are going to computers, so that is about to change.

I noticed that no one mentioned this, so I will. I talked a good LVN into coming to work with me. In my area, most jobs are per visit. So, being new, you get what you can. Even though we tried to fill up her schedule, she wasn't use to not making a constant living. When I started out, I was not the "bread winner" in the house, so I did not have to make a lot. I also worked with a bunch of great nurses that knew I was new and wanted visits, so they would throw some my way. But it takes time to "build up" your caseload. And even when you do, you will then turn around and discharge a bunch. My advice would be to look for some prn HH jobs in your area. That way you can do a few visits, get your feet wet as they say, while you still have your hospital job with bennifits.

Also, you MUST be stong in your clinical skills. You will see some things that you have never seen in the hospital, and unfortunately, it's JUST you. People are getting DC'd from the hospital earlier and sicker these days. I can't tell you how many times I would take pictures (consent was in admissions) and take them to the office for advice. OR how many times I called my best friend and asked her for help over the phone (didn't do in front of the patient! that might scare them:wink2:) And I have been a nurse for 12 years, so I'm not a "newbie"!

I say go for it! Give it a try. But maybe you might want to take baby steps first. Good luck, and keep us posted.

RNRutRO · Mar 31, 2009

One more thing, the company I work for is a family owned place. They treat their employees VERY well. Plus, I have found, the pay is really nice. I think I am compensated very well for what I do and can do a lot of it around my schedule. I try to chart at the patient's homes, but if I'm more rushed for time, I will do the general notes at the pt's and then the remainder of my notes while at baseball practice, or at the park with my kids.