Taking time off in home health

Specialties Home Health

Published

After 5 years in private duty and now that I am a RN I am burnt out with this field and ready to transition to doing home health visits. I am just curious as to how it works when you need to take time off. I like to take a week off a couple times a year to visit family out of state, would that be a problem in home health? Is there usually other nurses that can pick up your visits for you? What about sick days? I have grown accustomed to the flexibility of private duty and am just wondering how flexible home health can be, TIA!

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Specializes in Pulmonary, Lung Transplant, Med/Surg.

I've been doing home health for a little over a year and taken three weeks off. If you do some prep work it's a breeze taking the time off as long as your agency is well staffed. I'm lucky to work for one that has part time, casual RNs and LPNs. Don't be afraid to take some time off to rejuvenate!

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That sounds amazing, I hope I can find an agency like yours!

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Specializes in ER, Forensic Nurse, SANE.

I get 23 days PTO a yr. someone else will see your pts.

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Specializes in Pedi.

I get between 5-6 weeks/year PTO. I haven't had a problem taking time off, you just need to plan ahead. Some patients you know need to be seen on a certain day every week and others can be seen whenever works as long as they are seen within their frequency. I use per diem nurses to cover me when I'm away.

I was sick last week to the point where I didn't feel like it was a good idea to see my patients. (Had a fever of over 102F and my primary population is pediatric oncology- a fever of that caliber would land them in the hospital so I thought it best to stay away.) I was either able to find a nurse to cover or send the patients to the clinic for their labs/chemotherapy.

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