Would love some advice...thinking about home health nursing

[T_Ann]

hi! i'm thinking about applying to a home health agency in western north carolina where i live. i worked med/surg for a year and then to an internal medicine md's office for three years and have been out of nursing since last year. is my past experience enough to get me up and running in home health, or should i basically consider myself to be back at square one experience-wise? no way would i go back to med/surg (6-7 patients, sometimes 8!) for experience. any feedback is greatly appreciated! :) oh, any input on home health agencies in w. nc? thank you!!

[HmarieD]

It sounds like your experience would be adequate, you might brush up on certain skills, particularly wound care (we do lots of wound vacs which you might not have much experience with), IVs (lots of PICCs and port-a-caths in my area), & foleys.

Good luck! The worst day in HH is better than the best day in the hospital, IMHO.

[caliotter3]

Your experience level is more than adequate. Decide whether you will be looking for a full time position doing intermittent visits, or extended care shifts. Extended care is less stressful. Routine care for stable patients and you don't have to be concerned with doing a ton of paperwork at home on your own time or running all over the countryside. You can do as many or as few shifts each week as you care to. Suggest that, at least to start out until you get a feel for things. Believe that you will find this to be a welcome relief from the stress of hospital work. Do a read of the many threads on the home health forum to see what people have to say about it. Good luck with your decision.

[Lacie, BSN, RN]

I recently made the move myself to HH after 30 years in hospitals and dialysis. Let me tell you I wish I had done it much sooner. Best of all I can sleep at night now lol. I dont hear call bells, alarms and paging in my dreams any longer :)

[T_Ann]

thank you all so much for the replies! i will read up all i can about wound vacs, picc's etc. it has been awhile. i see the benefit of extended care, but i'm a busy-body and i fear that i would have the urge to wash their dishes or vacuum just to keep moving every second. are extened care shifts typically 8 hours or 12 hours, or either? if i get hired i'll start out slow with a couple of days a week and go from there. i wouldn't want to get overwhelmed & frustrated with myself . i do really feel that hh is more for me. being able to actually spend time with and care for a patient is what i want to do. not like my hospital experience where i couldn't spend any time other than on the "basics". sixty minutes in an hour divided by seven patients = no time. anyway, thank you all so much and i appreciate any & all input on the subject. i'll keep you posted on my journey!