What is the general view of a home health nurse

[HHN2472]

I am new to home health and took it as a way to have weekends and holidays off to spend with my young child (yay for a 3 day weekend coming up). I worked med/surg for almost a year and personally never had an opinion of home health nurses as anything but my peers and another field of nursing. For the first time today since becoming a RN case manager, I was speaking to a fellow nurse at a CPR class who asked me how I could do it. "Its not real nursing" is what she said that made me feel kind of off. Just kind of wondering if this is the typical view of the home health nurse by other health care professionals? I was going to post this in home health but kind of want a general view of the role of a home health nurse as viewed by his/her peers.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

People who think anything outside of the hospital is "not real nursing" have no idea what nurses in other areas actually do.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Quite true, KelRN215.

HHN2472, home health is more "real nursing" than a lot of hospital work, in that you use real nursing skills-- assessment, planning, teaching-- in almost every interaction with the patient and his/her family in their own environment.

I guess my opinion is, Who cares what people think if they're wrong? You can educate them, you can try to widen their horizons, or you can think they just like to make themselves feel more important by denigrating your practice. None of that matters an iota in what you do. Rain off a duck's back. :)

[brownbook]

I agree with all replies. She is just ignorant. Just smile, maybe say something about, "yeah, it is different from acute care bedside nursing," and let it go.

I have worked acute care in hospital nursing almost 30 years. I would be scared to be a home health nurse. You don't have immediate back up from co-workers, respiratory therapy, code blue or rapid response teams, etc. I thing you are brave!

[ToothFairy(5)]

Did home health for a long time. Loved it. I think you get more respect since you are alone out there with only your wits and creativity to utilize. I always felt well respected. But the most important thing is that you enjoy it.

[smartnurse1982]

Yes,that is the general view.

When i was an lpn in Rn school,my professor said I didnt work"real nursing" because i had no time management practice since i only had one pt.

I worked in private duty peds at the time,and she said it was glorified babysitting.

[Caffeine_IV]

Can only speak for myself. The only thing I think is those nurses do a lot of driving and are brave/confident. There are some complex patients in the home so your skills have to be on par.

[Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN]

Home Health is its own specialty.

You are dealing with complex patients with little to no backup. Your assessment skills and critical thinking skills are, well....critical.

I've found patients are more respectful in the home care setting, which is nice.

Don't let anyone tell you it's not "real nursing". That's ridiculous.

Just the opinion of one ED nurse.