What does an LVN do as a home health nurse?

[erosa962]

I have a few questions about the role and duties of an LVN in home health as I am new to this area. I am looking into moving into this area after working LTC for a year and a half. Some of the things I am wondering are is there certain agencies to look for? Is it hard to get into? Does it pay well (i am in so cal). Would I be doing multiple visits or is it one on one care? I have heard of Maxim and they are always advertising job opening but is it a bad place to work? I know this is allot of questions but I would really appreciate some help.

[caliotter3]

You can find plenty of info in the home health forum. Suggest you spend some time reading there. First of all, there are two main types of work: extended care (also called continuous care, or shift work), and intermittent visit work. Lately, the pay has decreased almost across the board in SoCal. It is relatively easy to get a job in home health as long as you have nursing experience. You can find plenty of threads and posts on Maxim Healthcare. Good to stay away from that agency unless you are desperate for work until you can find a better employer. You will tend to do better when looking to go with local agencies instead of the major national agencies. You will find more experiences and opinions in the hh forum to give you a bigger picture.

[erosa962]

Thank you for all the information. One thing though, as I am fairly new to posting threads and such, how do i find the forums?

[caliotter3]

For the home health forum, in the yellow bar at the top of the page, go to "specialty". Click. Scroll down to "nursing specialties". Click. Then click on home health. Go across the entire bar, and see what you can find under the main tabs. Another way to do it is to click on "site map" toward the right hand side of the yellow bar.

[enchantmentdis, BSN, RN]

You can sign up for shifts at Maxim or any other agency for that matter, and many times will get a low census one hour before the shift starts= no money. Also, even if you are called off, they will wake you up in the middle of the night asking if you can come in right away. Beware this. They are desperate and you won't get a good report.

[enchantmentdis, BSN, RN]

LVNs in home health do wounds, wounds, wounds.

[miss LPN countdown]

Well I am a new grad doing home health and I am greatful since it's so hard for new grads out the but the pay..let's just say hideous..I guess 15/hr is minimum for LVNs right, on top of that I'm doing lots of diaper changing and shower which I call glorified CNA, hope no one else has been through that but my point is I would rather work in a LTC facility though I'm not sure what it's like..In HH I have not seen any of the nurses take breaks...