The Degrading "Meet and Greet"

caliotter3 · May 14, 2019

When the topic of sending nurses packing back to the agency has come up with clients, as it occasionally does, I have been perplexed by the facial expressions and startled reactions I get when I mention to the client that the agency's responsibility is to send a qualified nurse to provide care to the patient for the shift. No more, no less. No guarantee of the same nurse every shift, foreign language fluency, nuances of ethnicity, marital status, color of eyes, or any other "qualifiers". They act as if I am telling them something that is out of the realm of reality. I also find the "meet and greet" to be degrading and a tremendous waste of time. It is really a waste when the client openly insults the nurse and the agency does not pay the nurse for their effort. My time, my gas, my parking ticket (sometimes), my effort. Least the agency can do is to pay the nurse a nominal wage for the degradation, ahh, the "audition".

panurse9999 · May 14, 2019

Exactly true. You take who you get. If there is some problem with the way the nurse performs her/ his duties, and has to be "non-returned" after a shift, then that is one thing. I have had the unfortunate luck of going on "meet-greet" only to be discarded by the mother from hell because she makes it her hobby to trash every nurse that comes through her door. And worse, my last agency feeds this beast, and continues to send, send, send, as if we are disposable plastic cups. Its bad for nurses, bad for business, and I decided that I will no longer go to "meet-greet" nonsense.

caliotter3 · May 14, 2019

If I feel it necessary, I extend the conversation to include a carefully curated story about the family that had been through every major hh agency in the area over the years and through most of the same pool of available nurses. I was given the rundown by the primary nurse who had been with the case from the time the child was born. She told me that most nurses that she rubbed shoulders with would not return to that case and she told me why. The family ended up having to send the patient away, most likely, 95% due to their reputation in the small world of home health nurses in that particular community. Of course, it takes a network of nurses that are not afraid to talk to their peers to bring something like that about despite the agency willingness to churn through their pool of new hires and veteran nurses alike.

panurse9999 · May 14, 2019

I once worked on a case that had over 50 come and go over a 10 year period, and like the other 49, I was tossed after a period of time like a once used ziplock bag. Problem here, was that agency endlessly catered to the abuse by constantly hiring and sending more nurses , allowing it to grow and fester into a monster. I once worked another case, very similar to the one you mentioned, and if my memory serves me correctly, parent lost custody of child. I am of the opinion that the "3 strikes" rule needs to happen in every HH agency around, to put an end to the abusive conduct of the family/ client from hell, so that the industry can preserve itself. What is the most disturbing is that most of these cases are state paid.

LaJollalove · May 17, 2019

I agree and I feel more sorry for great nurses who love HH and really feel it’s their calling than I do myself who it’s never been a great fit for (except with one special patient and family). I feel motivated to give my patients my best and stay in good standing to keep my job/license. I feel a bit locked in to HH because as an LVN I don’t have as big of variety of healthcare settings I can work in. However, I can either leave nursing or get my RN. I’ll never love HH due to so many issues like this and my personal preferences for what I want in a job. Not to mention the pay is generally lower.

adreamdeferred, MSN, RN, APRN, NP · May 18, 2019

I think of this as private duty. I was a home health nurse and did intermittent visits. I performed the skill I was there for and left. There are some families who like to take advantage of nurses like we are housekeepers and such. This is why I did not go into private duty because I once was a HHA and people like to take advantage. Sure I have ran late for visits because I showered a patient I found covered in diarrhea and started a load of laundry so it would not smell up her house, but I couldn't make that a habit especially when the patient has loved ones sitting there staring at you (that particular patient didn't). If it were not for the the nursing skill needed (packing a wound, IV, wound vac, etc insurance would not cover the visit. The point of my rant is there is this trend to take advantage of and abuse nurses as well as some ignorance as to what we are supposed to do. I recognized early on private duty looked too "abusive" prone to me and stayed clear but nursing in general is being disrespected across the board, constantly adding ridicules things to our job description. Don't put up with it or it becomes the norm.

caliotter3 · May 18, 2019

Agencies don't do "meet and greets" for intermittent visits as far as I know, not practical or necessary. "Meet and greets" are a somewhat recent phenomenon for extended care, where the family wants a say in the matter when it comes to who is going to be spending four to 16 hours a shift in their homes.

AdobeRN · May 21, 2019

The HHA I work for does this - While I have not experienced any of these issues I can see how it can be irritating to some nurses - the agency I work for will pay for going to the "Meet and Greet" I think it is $10/hour - not much but at least not a total waste of time.

I personally am ok with these visits - sometimes the agency office is not totally honest with what you are getting into - I feel these visits are good on both ends, if I don't get a good vibe from a family or if the current nurse working there gives me a heads up on how things are done I can make the choice whether to pick up the case.

My only complaint with these "Meet and Greets" is that my HHA rarely lets me know when someone is going to show up or they will text me after the person has already shown up and left. Sometimes it is difficult when you are elbow deep in medications, treatments, diaper changes etc etc etc to stop/slow down to spend time with the new potential nurse - especially if the parents are not home and you are expected to be the one to "Meet and Greet".

moretonel · May 21, 2019

I'm an LPN with two years experience in LTC and almost a year in a medical group home for intellectually and developmentally challenged. I applied to my first home health agency, responding to an Indeed.com posting for a 1:1 40hrs/wk. It was a perfect match - for the past year at the group home I cared for a resident with nebulizer treatments, vibrating chest vest treatment, and feeding tube via feeding pump; and, the client had the exact same treatments. I interviewed Wednesday, got my employee badge, schedule, daily forms, direct deposit on Friday; and, was told I orientate Monday.

Saturday evening I was called by the agency, "We have a problem. I'm sorry, the client does not want a male nurse [for her 26 year old SON]. They're not as forward thinking as we are." I couldn't help but wonder if the fact that I am a Black male nurse came up in conversation, it makes NO sense that the mom didn't want a male to care for her son.

They called me back about 2 weeks later with a case that had only 10 part-time shifts a month. That's not what I applied for - I applied for a 1:1 40hrs/wk position. The end of the phone call, "I resign as of now."

panurse9999 · May 25, 2019

On 5/21/2019 at 2:15 PM, moretonel said:
I'm an LPN with two years experience in LTC and almost a year in a medical group home for intellectually and developmentally challenged. I applied to my first home health agency, responding to an Indeed.com posting for a 1:1 40hrs/wk. It was a perfect match - for the past year at the group home I cared for a resident with nebulizer treatments, vibrating chest vest treatment, and feeding tube via feeding pump; and, the client had the exact same treatments. I interviewed Wednesday, got my employee badge, schedule, daily forms, direct deposit on Friday; and, was told I orientate Monday.
Saturday evening I was called by the agency, "We have a problem. I'm sorry, the client does not want a male nurse [for her 26 year old SON]. They're not as forward thinking as we are." I couldn't help but wonder if the fact that I am a Black male nurse came up in conversation, it makes NO sense that the mom didn't want a male to care for her son.
They called me back about 2 weeks later with a case that had only 10 part-time shifts a month. That's not what I applied for - I applied for a 1:1 40hrs/wk position. The end of the phone call, "I resign as of now."

I would file an EEOC complaint against the agency.

caliotter3 · May 26, 2019

An EEOC complaint won't fly unless the complainant has clear cut, provable evidence that the agency is guilty of something. The bottom line: the family gets to say who enters their home and who does not. They need NO reason whatsoever.