Sort of new Home health LVN..need advice asap.

[dbarnes82]

hi everyone. just to give you a little backround,i have about 7 months clinic experience, and have only had 6 visits under my belt that only consisted of teaching and monitoring of patients disease process(htn,diabetes etc.) i never felt comfortable in the home health setting, and i say that because i didnt received proper training at the first HH company i worked for. i shadowed an lvn's 4 patients, which i felt wasnt enough for me, and documentation, almost nill. so because of this i quit. But now 4 months later( not being to find a job ANYWHERE, due to lack of sufficient experience) i went back to home health, and even though most HH companys in my area(so cal) require 1 year experience, i got luck and got hired. well once again i'm not feeling confident, due to lack of training. but i have decided to give it a go, since the DON is very helpful an aware of my lack of experience.

i have been assigned three patients this week,.

one portacath patient, which needs to be flushed q week, weigh daily due to fluid, and wound care for skin cancer removal. with this patient im comfortable with 2 of 3. portacath flush, i have never done. (i couldnt find you tube videos with this)

the nursing part of HH, is not my worry is it mostly the paperwork/documentation. and the coming up of nursing diagnosis.

any advice?..i might think this is just too much for me.but i cant find a job anywhere else...thanks in advance;)

[iluvivt, BSN, RN]

What would you like to know about venous access ports? I can give you the steps needed to safely access and flush and pt teaching. is that what you are needing? Pts with ports are usually very protective of their port and most are knowlegable about their care.

[wifilpn1]

Go to your nurse case manger and explain what you need. If that does not work, then make an appointment with your DON. Protect your license at all cost. This is serious, home health is just as serious as hospital. You technically should have had one to two years of med/surg before going into home health. Find something in addition to what you are doing. I know the market for new nurses is really hard right now. Contact me and I can give you an agency name that can quite possibly give you what you need.