I've been pretty excited/anxious/nervous about my new job in HH. I am getting great pay and great benefits and am very happy to be leaving my awful unit now. I asked around for advice and received this email from a nurse friend. It kind of upset me but didn't make me change my mind. Do any of you have an opinion on this? True/Untrue??
Thanks a lot for any help (yet again) By the way, I'm almost 40.
Email:
Here is what I think. Can you hang on another three months? Having at least a year on the same unit seems to be important for a resume, especially for a new nurse.
Secondly, and this is personal and from what I have seen, home care is a pathway to a dead end for a young nurse. I am not saying that to be mean, because I did some work in home hospice and LOVED it. But the staff there told me as well -- home care is for nurses with several years of hospital experience and for nurses who are winding down their careers.
I guess it all depends on what you see your path in life/nursing. Do you want to always be able to get work? Home health jobs can be hard to come by. Do you want to stay in the same town? Do you want to be comfortable at your job and have predictability?
Home health is very lovely, but I personally think you will get bored within a few years. Then, you might want to go back to the hospital because that is where the jobs are. However, moving back into the acute care setting will be very difficult! That is why home health is often a step into home health and then retirement or an office job.
"I am really looking forward to the changes this will bring, both good & bad. I am so tired of med surg & nights, but more than that I am looking for a career not just a paycheck. Right now I feel like my job is drudgery and I envy people who love or at least don't mind their jobs. Thanks for letting me in on your best kept secret of nursing!
Boy, am I with you there! Just starting (after my bout with flu) a HH career after 20 years in hospital, clinic and what have you. It'll be interesting what we have to say in 5 years, eh? :cheers:
HH is the future of health care. As we baby boomers age, there will not be enough beds in LTC and hospitals, and you will see more borderline "acute" care done in the home.
Think about it: a post-surgical pt is sent home, but then develops a infection with MRSA (picked up during the hospital stay). The pt goes back into the hospital, and the pt is put on IV tx and daily dressing changes. Once the wound is well approximated, the pt is sent home, with HH. HH will monitor the IV Vanco as well as the wound.
Now there is a bed free in the hospital for someone who HAS to be in the hospital, the pt doesn't have to go to a LTC facility, and the pt gets to go home, to finsh the healing process in a comforting environment.
That's just one example of a HH pt. I work as a nurse liasion for a HH, after 2 years on a Med/Surg floor. The only thing I miss about the hospital is the ability to practice my clinical skills.
I had my first day yesterday, and I really really liked it. The people were so warm, funny, smart and snide in a good way. I was really worried about leaving my great coworkers at the hospital, but those types of people seem to be everywhere.
I got to have a really cool wound care in-service and learned a lot more than I had ever known.
The afternoon was spent learning the laptop I was given. It seems a lot of the RNs are upset because it has gps capabilities and they feel like big brother is watching and monitoring. I really don't care.
But wow! I woke up, went to work, came home for lunch, went back and was home on a Friday at 5pm! I didn't have to leave to go anywhere. What a feeling!
Next week I shadow, my manager said that my orientation will take as long as I feel comfortable but probably several weeks. She did say that she didn't want me in the office too much because it will kill my spirit. Love it!
Specializes in OR, ICU, Tele, Psych, LTC, Palliative.
Hi Nurseby07!
So glad to hear it's going well! I'm just amazed at what I've learned over the past few days, and, like you, the warm fuzzy's you get from most families.:redpinkhe In hospital, I always felt so rushed and felt like a glorified pill pusher with very little time to do any actual assessments, much less actually talk much with my patients. I always left my shift feeling as though there was so much left undone for these people. I truly like the 1:1 experience and the feeling that I'm actually helping!
Specializes in OR, ICU, Tele, Psych, LTC, Palliative.
HH is the future of health care. As we baby boomers age, there will not be enough beds in LTC and hospitals, and you will see more borderline "acute" care done in the home.
Colette,
You said that so well! Now, if only we were compensated as well as hospital nurses, but that's another thread! :thankya::dncgbby:
I talked about home health with a former supervisor who was in her 70s and had been an RN for more than 50 years. She said that when she was starting out that home health was only for those substandard new nurses whose reputations could not get them hired at a hospital or those who could not make it at a hospital. Sort of like the last chance for getting a job. Not so today. I would not take these remarks to heart. Any job is going to be what you make it and any area of nursing is going to have its advantages and disadvantages. You have to decide that you are going to stick with the positive and cast the negative aside.
:yeah: Good luck!!!
nurseby07
338 Posts
Boy, am I with you there! Just starting (after my bout with flu) a HH career after 20 years in hospital, clinic and what have you. It'll be interesting what we have to say in 5 years, eh? :cheers:
Sue
Yes it will! Good luck to you, Sue!