transitioning out of home health

SDALPN · Oct 16, 2013

Hi all!! I have been a LPN for about 7 months now and been working as a vent/trach nurse for a 6.5 months. I've been through 3 different agencies already...anywho I really would like to transition out of home health and get back into a facility. I only got into home health for the experience. I also feel that I'm not learning much & if I stayed too long, ill get stuck! Any advice?! Thanks!![/quote']
That sounds like private duty instead of home health. 3 agencies in that amount of time sounds like a but much. Most employers like to see at least a year at one job. Many won't hire nurses with less than a year of experience. There are many other things that can be learned doing private duty. A nurse with 6 months in private duty, especially a new nurse, really hasn't had the time to learn all there is to know about trachs and vents. I would be shocked if you could explain the internal settings of the vent and how they can effect the pt. And the formulas to know the appropriate range of each setting for a pt. Its Better not to do PDN as a new grad. There is way too much that can go wrong. Even after many years of doing PDN, there are still things to learn. Have you done TPN, IV therapy? Have you worked with cough assist, apnea monitors, etc? Have you learned about the many types of trachs and why they are used? Sometimes I've asked drs why they didn't go with a different type of trach and the drs ended up agreeing with me that a different trach may work better. How many diagnoses have you worked with? There are many things to learn from the different cases. What about dealing with multiple families and their personalities and ways of coping? You can request to float and to work with other cases that use different skills than your current case. You will see similar things in a facility, but you will have a safety net and lots of people to learn from. Any time I've looked for a job, I've had no problem getting one. So I've never really been stuck because of PDN. Some nurses keep 2 jobs with one being PDN and the other in a facility. So that could be an option as well. Typically in PDN you don't have to worry about time management skills as much as you do in a facility. Hope that helps.

tcooks7 · Oct 17, 2013

Well they don't normally hire new grads to work with trachs and vents but before I was even a nurse, I took care of ny grandmother that was on a vent & trach for 2 years, so I know what I'm doing when it comes to that.

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Oct 17, 2013

Is it possible for you to apply to area sub acute vent facilities, rehabs, etc?

As a new grad vent nurse many ears ago, it helped me organize and prioritize, advocate, and collaborate, things that will serve one well if and when you transition into a facility. I worked both PDN and at a Rehab hospital as an LPN with NO issues; it can be done.