I've been an RN for 26 years and in home health for 19, almost 20 years. When I was in school, the rumor was that home health is where the lazy nurses go. I know it was a LOT different back then, and that might have been the case in 1996, but it's not now. Home health nurses must be highly skilled, self-motivated, competent, and confident. We must have good time management as well. Many are not comfortable going into the patient's home, but I love delivering care at home. As an RN, we do the admits, recertifications, resumptions, and discharges for the most part. We don't usually do routine visits, but at times, we do them. A Skilled admit usually takes around an hour, which is usually the longest we will be in the home. Most routine visits are between 30 min to an hour. We do some longer infusions that require the nurse to stay with the patient, such as Radicava or Iron. I have filled several roles over the years from field nurse to Director of Nursing. I will say that if you are considering a career in home health, it is not easy. The documentation is extensive and does take personal time to complete, but it is very rewarding and does give some flexibility in scheduling. Always make sure that the agency offers support to its field staff at all times. Make sure that your director is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure the patients are cared for, including going out to do visits and covering on call when needed. It's about teamwork. As far as pay, RNs can make more working in a facility or hospital, but you don't get the flexibility or autonomy that comes with home health. I will end my career as a home health nurse. Getting to know your patients as human beings is very rewarding.
Home Heath RN 6+years here. What you describe as companionship and ADL care is not delivered by a home health nurse but by home health aides through unskilled agencies typically Medicaid, Waiver etc. I work for a skilled Medicare agency with older, higher acuity patients. I see 6-7 patients a day 5 days a week plus on call rotation every 4-5 weeks. Typical skills involve PICC/Central line management and care, woundvacs, trachs, Chest tubes, ostomies, catheters, biliary drains, Lab draws, etc. Documentation expectations are high due to Medicare requirements esxpecially with SOC, ROC, Recerts. Lots of charting that follows you home even with good time management. Home health nurses wear many hats. At times I feel like a social worker, pt educator, nurse navigator etc. Pts are often unstable and at high risk for hospital readmission.
Hi Joni! Thank you for your valuable input! I love having nurses comment that work in the fields I make videos about. As I say in my videos, these are not exhaustive explanations and they vary widely depending on where you live and how large the facility is, etc. I have heard that the documentation is extremely stringent due to CMS guidelines and requirements! Thank you for commenting and adding value to those that may be reading in the comments!
Hi @joniK I’m starting a new role as a RN case manager in home health. Would you say you have a good work life balance? About what time do you usually finish your shifts? I’m excited to start this role. Thanks
Yes - what Joni K said. There are some wealthy clients that pay out-of-pocket for a private duty RN, but typically, home health aids are the people assisting with ADLs. In my experience, days working as a home health RN go by quickly as you drive around helping people with the things Joni K mentioned, and I usually enjoyed that part of the job. The documentation at home was too much, though. It didn't allow for much family time. Add in chronic problems, in my experience, with the companies I worked for (communication issues with the office staff, difficulty obtaining supplies, scheduling craziness), and it was time for me to find a new area of nursing. There must be better companies out there, and I truly wish the best for anyone considering home health, but that was my experience with two employers.
This was really helpful. I'm looking to try to become an LPN or RN, but I'm a little nervous because I really struggle with studying/math. Both of my parents have passed, and I never thought about home health/hospice etc until my mom passed last year. There's so many different forms of nursing; it's motivating
There are a ton of different specialities in nursing! In most cases, you can even switch between them if you decide one isn't for you! If you go into home health and decide you want to try pediatrics, you can! There are so many tutors and helpful classes online as well as in most nursing schools to help with the math and studying. It's certainly not easy but it is so worth it!
I have been a home health nurse for over 20 years. In my state I don’t really know of any “companion” type care. We do skilled care and education. We have several pts a day and most are only seen 1 time a week depending on the care. If we are in the home for 2 hours something serious is going on.
Hey Melissa! Thanks for the comment! This process has been so interesting to see how many different aspects of nursing care there are throughout the US! Some of my friends in home health share a similar experience with you regarding seeing several patients and not typically staying for hours at a time. Thank you for the comment! I hope others will be able to read it and glean helpful information from it too!
This was a pretty good in-depth video and you’re a good speaker, surprised you don’t have more followers, I think you should keep making videos 👍🏻 take care!
I'm an LPN and just finished a residency program with a home health company. I love it. I work with Trach and Vent and I like knowing what every day is going to be like and getting to see long term progress
That sounds like a great gig! Home health has expanded into quite a robust sector over the last several years and they offer some pretty cool options! I'm glad to hear you're liking the new gig! Thanks for the comment!
Hey Mason! You're so welcome! Let me know if there is an area you're specifically looking for more information in and I'd be happy to dig into it with you and get back to you! Thanks for the comment!
10 year ER nurse converted to walk in clinic and now that job is going away. Looking for something with flexible hours due to being single dad. Pointers on how to learn documentation and time management. Websites, cheat sheets for speeding up documentation. Would prefer to get as much done between 8-3 when possible.
How does one get into home health nursing if you are an ADN- RN (med-surg) with 10 years hospital nursing exp. wanting to re-enter the nursing field after being out for +5 years due to BURN OUT. How do they look at gaps in work for nurses wanting to rejoin the nursing field. I've been reading about certain job requirements for documentation experience for CMS/Oasis. Where do you gain that type experience in a documentation knowledge base without having worked in home health? Thanks
Hey Johnson Lillie, Great question! I think there are a lot of nurses in your situation, especially with the pandemic putting such a strain on the healthcare field in general. To be quite honest, I don't know what route you should take specifically. Furthermore I think it's something you should give a lot of thought to prior to jumping back in. Here are some things to consider from my perspective: Depending on which state you are licensed in there are continuing education credits that are required to keep your license so you will want to make sure you have an active license prior to jumping out there. For example, in some states, going 5+ years without work requires you to take a small test to determine whether you are up to date on laws etc. I would look into that first (which will give you some refresher there). My main recommendation after that would be to start small and call some local hospitals or clinics and tell them your situation and ask them if you can shadow for a day or two. There is usually very little you have to do to be able to shadow. Then do the same at a home health facility and ask them about their systems and what kind of training they provide. After that I think you should just go for it. That said, there is a huge demand for nursing right now and as long as you are transparent with the facility you're applying at, I feel confident that they will provide the training necessary to get you up to speed. I hope my response helps! There truly is no one answer for everyone but these were just a few of my thoughts. Please let me know if there are any other questions!
Hey! Thanks for the comment! Typically, LVNs and RNs practice very similarly in some departments. The main difference is the difference in scope of practice. Typically LVNs are not allowed to triage or assess critical patients, in most places they are not allowed to be wound care specialists either and several other things. The thing is, in many cases, although they can't be the "primary" nurse for some patients and can't do some types of assessments on paper, they can often follow the RNs care plan with very little oversight. In fact, many LVNs I have worked with were AMAZING and had incredible experience and skill. You will have to look in to the specific differences in their scope of practice in your state to really find out what they do differently. Thanks again for the comment!
Nope. I am a home health case manager and none of this pertains to my job. I do more skills and provide more education in this job, learn constantly, and help my patients better than sometimes I believe we could do in a hospital.
Hey Jessica, thanks for the feedback! Although case management is a category of its own, I agree that education is a major part of nursing in every category! Home Health provides a unique atmosphere to do that in ways that just aren’t possible in the hospital setting sometimes! Also, like I mentioned, there is a ton of things home health nursing involves and I couldn’t possibly cover every skill and teaching opportunity you’ll see. This video is more to give a quick snapshot into a few categories you might see in home health nursing, coming out of nursing school. Thanks again for your feedback!
I'm not sure you understand what home health really is. I've been in home health for 11 years. What I do is considered skilled nursing, however it is not what you described as skilled. What you described as skilled, long term care and personal care are all the same type of home care, they are all non skilled home care. With the exception of pts with DOE cards most insurance companies will not pay for these types of services therefore pts and or their families private pay for these types of services. Most often these services are provided by a CNA, and the pt has a case manager who visits monthly to do a care plan update. Skilled home care is actually paid for by many insurance companies and Medicare if the pt meets the requirements for services. (Homebound and a skilled need for care are 2 of the major requirements) our services are more acute and short term. Our nurses have to have very good assessment skills in addition to keeping up w all the skills you mentioned that home health nurses may not develop. While alot of our job is pt education, we also deal w higher acuity pts. While most are not sick enough to be in the hospital they are at an increased risk of being rehospitalized the first 2 weeks they get home. Part of our job is to help prevent the rehospitalizations. We do IV's, wound vacs, venipuntures, pleurx drains, ostomy care just to name a few. The hospital that owns my agency happens to have a very large cardiac and ortho program, therefore we have very specific open heart, CHF, LVAD and ortho protocols that were develep w the physicians. I personally happen to be wound care certified which is not a requirement, but in my agency our staff are required to have yearly wound vac and LVAD training. Since we are hospital owned we are required to have alot of the same training that our bedside nurses have. Alot of people think that we are not "real nurses" or that we are lazy, or "hospitable rejects". That we definitely arent, while I'm not saying that we deal w the acuity of pts on a cardiac floor, ICU, or a trauma center. What I can tell you is that a nurse working in any of these units will never be alone when they have a pt going bad, there is always another nurse near by and there is always a dr somewhere in the facility. Where as when we have a pt going bad we are lucky if we have a family member to get EMS on the way to help us. We dont have AED's and 2 man CPR is not going to happen it's just 1 man until EMS arrives. Lastly as a "home health" nurse I hate that you grouped hospice in to the same category of nursing as home health. While they are both medical care that is provided in the home they are two very different approaches to nursing, and sometimes its difficult to get pts the help they need because they dont want that stigma of being a "hospice patient". While there are many differences bw home health and hospice the biggest is that in home health our goal is to get our pts "better" or max rehab, where as in hospice it is more about "quality and comfort". Oh and BTW when you have a patient that seems so textbook but the treatments just arent working for them. Get a home health nurse involved there is a good possibility that they will find something going on in the home that no one else thought about.
One in a Million Amy, Thank you so much for your feedback! I want to first clarify that I was not intending to encompass everything that is involved in the entire category of home health, in this one video. From the beginning, this video was to give a very generic overview of some of the things that are seen in the home health setting, as discussing every skill available to be performed in the home by a skilled nurse would take quite a while. Just as there are areas and companies that have the resources to have specialized nurses for things like wound vacs or LVAD, there are also areas and companies that don’t have those resources and specialty nursing for those things and they are a “home health and hospice” company in many cases. That being said, many of the home health nurses that I have worked with are VERY skilled in their specialty. I try not to ever bolster one type of nursing over another as I honestly believe that every category of nursing (even the subcategories like home health nurses that specialize in LVADs specifically etc) is crucial to the balance of patient care. Although I could not possibly cover every persons perspective on home health nursing, and every specialty certification or service available, the video was to give a very simple overview for brand new nursing students that have no exposure at all to the nursing field. I have great respect for nurses in their specialties! There is a place for the LVAD trained cardiac home health nurse just as much as those that are Neuro Trauma ICU trained. The difference does not automatically mean there is a deficit from one to the other, but they are different in nature and needed in their own way. All nurses in every category of nursing should strive to provide the best possible care for their patients and have a desire to continue in their pursuit of knowledge indefinitely, in my opinion. Thank you again for your feedback! I hope that for those reading it they can see a closer look at a few more specialized things that are involved in some areas of home health!
Hey angelica! With a lot of home health care, insurance will pay for a certain visit frequency depending on what you are needing home health for. Although there are many different perspectives, I was referring to the frequency of visits per week. I hope this helps! Thanks for the comment!
Hey P.J. I am not 100% sure on this one so you'll want to do some of your own research. What I do know is that many home health organizations will require the use of your own car and need proof of license and insurance for that. The organizations that use their cars for the nurses may have different options. In short, I would say yes, you probably need a clean driving record. However there may be some things that are allowed. I hope this helps! Thanks for the comment!
I’m not doing ADLs..I just got a computer science degree and I can not understand any of it nor can I find a job so now I need to go into another field and start over..is there anyway not to do blood, shit, pee, showering, etc??? Like what nursing area could I do
Hey again Jane, sorry to tell you there really aren't any nursing fields I am aware of that will guarantee you won't interact with those things. It's kind of like being a mechanic and trying to avoid oil changes, it's a normal and regular part of the job and I'm not sure it's avoidable. There are some positions that may not require it but they typically require experience first, which requires interacting with all of those things. You could look into Telehealth perhaps but again, every Telehealth I'm aware of will require 2+ years of experience. Thanks for the comment!
@@musicandpoetry_8You can try wotking in psyhe facility where there is less exposure with fluids. Did you ever find a job in any field in nursing ? Good luck.
Hey Jane! I'm sure there are some versions of home health that don't do that as much as others, however it's well within the RN and LVP/LPN scope to toilet and bath patients. You might look into wound care home health or a version of home health that is relatively temporary for the patients. Even so, I'm not sure it's completely avoidable. Thanks for the comment!
Hi Katherine, you will need a nursing license to provide nursing care but there are many aspects of home health that have a lower barrier to entry. You could look into getting an LVN, or even starting with your CNA. Some states in the US have home health jobs that only require in house training but I don't know much about these off the top of my head. Thank you for the comment!
Great question! There are some positions that will allow for night shift in home health but I don't think it's as regular as inpatient care (acute care). I think if you were looking for night time positions you could find them but there is a much higher concentration of home health that happens during the day. Thanks for the comment!
In many states, being a "caregiver" doesn't require a license. However, some states or organizations require some sort of formal training. You will want to check into that first.
Personal care nursing is for Nurse assistants not RNs. You should know this if you’re a nurse. We home health nurses so skilled nursing. Don’t speak on things if you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Hey! Thanks for the comment! I'd love to hear more about what you do as a home health nurse! As I mentioned in the video, what RNs do in home health varies a lot from place to place and patient to patient. Personal care is an aspect of nursing that is handled by RNs in almost every aspect of nursing as we don't only preform skills but we care for our patients holistically. I have no doubt that the majority of tasks you do are highly skilled but I'm sure you're giving personal care, companionship and skilled nursing to every patient as well. Thanks again for the comment! Feel free to let us know what your day looks like when you're working to help those that have no frame of reference at all!
I've been an RN for 26 years and in home health for 19, almost 20 years. When I was in school, the rumor was that home health is where the lazy nurses go. I know it was a LOT different back then, and that might have been the case in 1996, but it's not now. Home health nurses must be highly skilled, self-motivated, competent, and confident. We must have good time management as well. Many are not comfortable going into the patient's home, but I love delivering care at home. As an RN, we do the admits, recertifications, resumptions, and discharges for the most part. We don't usually do routine visits, but at times, we do them. A Skilled admit usually takes around an hour, which is usually the longest we will be in the home. Most routine visits are between 30 min to an hour. We do some longer infusions that require the nurse to stay with the patient, such as Radicava or Iron. I have filled several roles over the years from field nurse to Director of Nursing. I will say that if you are considering a career in home health, it is not easy. The documentation is extensive and does take personal time to complete, but it is very rewarding and does give some flexibility in scheduling. Always make sure that the agency offers support to its field staff at all times. Make sure that your director is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure the patients are cared for, including going out to do visits and covering on call when needed. It's about teamwork. As far as pay, RNs can make more working in a facility or hospital, but you don't get the flexibility or autonomy that comes with home health. I will end my career as a home health nurse. Getting to know your patients as human beings is very rewarding.
P😊
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@oluwatobimoses1072 what?
What is the cases of pt in home health care
@duaaalghuti918 not sure what you are asking. Yes, PT is done in the home
Home Heath RN 6+years here.
What you describe as companionship and ADL care is not delivered by a home health nurse but by home health aides through unskilled agencies typically Medicaid, Waiver etc.
I work for a skilled Medicare agency with older, higher acuity patients. I see 6-7 patients a day 5 days a week plus on call rotation every 4-5 weeks. Typical skills involve PICC/Central line management and care, woundvacs, trachs, Chest tubes, ostomies, catheters, biliary drains, Lab draws, etc.
Documentation expectations are high due to Medicare requirements esxpecially with SOC, ROC, Recerts.
Lots of charting that follows you home even with good time management.
Home health nurses wear many hats. At times I feel like a social worker, pt educator, nurse navigator etc.
Pts are often unstable and at high risk for hospital readmission.
Hi Joni!
Thank you for your valuable input! I love having nurses comment that work in the fields I make videos about. As I say in my videos, these are not exhaustive explanations and they vary widely depending on where you live and how large the facility is, etc. I have heard that the documentation is extremely stringent due to CMS guidelines and requirements! Thank you for commenting and adding value to those that may be reading in the comments!
Hi @joniK I’m starting a new role as a RN case manager in home health. Would you say you have a good work life balance? About what time do you usually finish your shifts? I’m excited to start this role. Thanks
Yes - what Joni K said. There are some wealthy clients that pay out-of-pocket for a private duty RN, but typically, home health aids are the people assisting with ADLs.
In my experience, days working as a home health RN go by quickly as you drive around helping people with the things Joni K mentioned, and I usually enjoyed that part of the job. The documentation at home was too much, though. It didn't allow for much family time. Add in chronic problems, in my experience, with the companies I worked for (communication issues with the office staff, difficulty obtaining supplies, scheduling craziness), and it was time for me to find a new area of nursing. There must be better companies out there, and I truly wish the best for anyone considering home health, but that was my experience with two employers.
We are not companions
Thank you for this. I am getting back into home health care nursing and kind of needed a refresher about what to expect again
This was really helpful. I'm looking to try to become an LPN or RN, but I'm a little nervous because I really struggle with studying/math. Both of my parents have passed, and I never thought about home health/hospice etc until my mom passed last year. There's so many different forms of nursing; it's motivating
There are a ton of different specialities in nursing! In most cases, you can even switch between them if you decide one isn't for you! If you go into home health and decide you want to try pediatrics, you can! There are so many tutors and helpful classes online as well as in most nursing schools to help with the math and studying. It's certainly not easy but it is so worth it!
I have been a home health nurse for over 20 years. In my state I don’t really know of any “companion” type care. We do skilled care and education. We have several pts a day and most are only seen 1 time a week depending on the care. If we are in the home for 2 hours something serious is going on.
Hey Melissa! Thanks for the comment! This process has been so interesting to see how many different aspects of nursing care there are throughout the US! Some of my friends in home health share a similar experience with you regarding seeing several patients and not typically staying for hours at a time. Thank you for the comment! I hope others will be able to read it and glean helpful information from it too!
I’m over twice your age and I didn’t know half that info. Well done!
This was a pretty good in-depth video and you’re a good speaker, surprised you don’t have more followers, I think you should keep making videos 👍🏻 take care!
I appreciate that! Thanks for the comment!
It’s amazing how to explained everything that we should know as a nurse but took it for granted You did a great job
Thank you so much Beverly!
I'm an LPN and just finished a residency program with a home health company. I love it. I work with Trach and Vent and I like knowing what every day is going to be like and getting to see long term progress
That sounds like a great gig! Home health has expanded into quite a robust sector over the last several years and they offer some pretty cool options! I'm glad to hear you're liking the new gig! Thanks for the comment!
I'm looking to transition in my career and I really appreciated this video. Thank you.
Hey Mason! You're so welcome! Let me know if there is an area you're specifically looking for more information in and I'd be happy to dig into it with you and get back to you! Thanks for the comment!
Great video and very informative as usual. Thank you
Keep it up! Loved your video. Very informative and helpful.
Thanks Nicole! We've got big plans for 2023 on the channel so stay tuned! Thanks for the comment!
Very thourough, informative video
Glad it was helpful! Keep a look out for more videos in the future!
Great information!🤩
Thanks! I appreciate the comment!
10 year ER nurse converted to walk in clinic and now that job is going away. Looking for something with flexible hours due to being single dad. Pointers on how to learn documentation and time management. Websites, cheat sheets for speeding up documentation. Would prefer to get as much done between 8-3 when possible.
I agree that the depth of nursing is not what I would prefer. However I can’t get a job in acute care and I’ve been trying for years to
How does one get into home health nursing if you are an ADN- RN (med-surg) with 10 years hospital nursing exp. wanting to re-enter the nursing field after being out for +5 years due to BURN OUT. How do they look at gaps in work for nurses wanting to rejoin the nursing field. I've been reading about certain job requirements for documentation experience for CMS/Oasis. Where do you gain that type experience in a documentation knowledge base without having worked in home health? Thanks
Hey Johnson Lillie,
Great question! I think there are a lot of nurses in your situation, especially with the pandemic putting such a strain on the healthcare field in general. To be quite honest, I don't know what route you should take specifically. Furthermore I think it's something you should give a lot of thought to prior to jumping back in. Here are some things to consider from my perspective:
Depending on which state you are licensed in there are continuing education credits that are required to keep your license so you will want to make sure you have an active license prior to jumping out there. For example, in some states, going 5+ years without work requires you to take a small test to determine whether you are up to date on laws etc. I would look into that first (which will give you some refresher there).
My main recommendation after that would be to start small and call some local hospitals or clinics and tell them your situation and ask them if you can shadow for a day or two. There is usually very little you have to do to be able to shadow. Then do the same at a home health facility and ask them about their systems and what kind of training they provide. After that I think you should just go for it.
That said, there is a huge demand for nursing right now and as long as you are transparent with the facility you're applying at, I feel confident that they will provide the training necessary to get you up to speed.
I hope my response helps! There truly is no one answer for everyone but these were just a few of my thoughts. Please let me know if there are any other questions!
Can you give me advice on being a LPN in home health is it different for a RN or same in Hospitals, Nursing Homes, & or Home health..?
Hey! Thanks for the comment! Typically, LVNs and RNs practice very similarly in some departments. The main difference is the difference in scope of practice. Typically LVNs are not allowed to triage or assess critical patients, in most places they are not allowed to be wound care specialists either and several other things. The thing is, in many cases, although they can't be the "primary" nurse for some patients and can't do some types of assessments on paper, they can often follow the RNs care plan with very little oversight. In fact, many LVNs I have worked with were AMAZING and had incredible experience and skill. You will have to look in to the specific differences in their scope of practice in your state to really find out what they do differently. Thanks again for the comment!
Good job 👍👍👌👌💐💐💐
Thank you Shima!
Nope. I am a home health case manager and none of this pertains to my job. I do more skills and provide more education in this job, learn constantly, and help my patients better than sometimes I believe we could do in a hospital.
Hey Jessica, thanks for the feedback! Although case management is a category of its own, I agree that education is a major part of nursing in every category! Home Health provides a unique atmosphere to do that in ways that just aren’t possible in the hospital setting sometimes! Also, like I mentioned, there is a ton of things home health nursing involves and I couldn’t possibly cover every skill and teaching opportunity you’ll see. This video is more to give a quick snapshot into a few categories you might see in home health nursing, coming out of nursing school. Thanks again for your feedback!
I'm not sure you understand what home health really is. I've been in home health for 11 years. What I do is considered skilled nursing, however it is not what you described as skilled. What you described as skilled, long term care and personal care are all the same type of home care, they are all non skilled home care. With the exception of pts with DOE cards most insurance companies will not pay for these types of services therefore pts and or their families private pay for these types of services. Most often these services are provided by a CNA, and the pt has a case manager who visits monthly to do a care plan update.
Skilled home care is actually paid for by many insurance companies and Medicare if the pt meets the requirements for services. (Homebound and a skilled need for care are 2 of the major requirements) our services are more acute and short term. Our nurses have to have very good assessment skills in addition to keeping up w all the skills you mentioned that home health nurses may not develop. While alot of our job is pt education, we also deal w higher acuity pts. While most are not sick enough to be in the hospital they are at an increased risk of being rehospitalized the first 2 weeks they get home. Part of our job is to help prevent the rehospitalizations. We do IV's, wound vacs, venipuntures, pleurx drains, ostomy care just to name a few. The hospital that owns my agency happens to have a very large cardiac and ortho program, therefore we have very specific open heart, CHF, LVAD and ortho protocols that were develep w the physicians. I personally happen to be wound care certified which is not a requirement, but in my agency our staff are required to have yearly wound vac and LVAD training. Since we are hospital owned we are required to have alot of the same training that our bedside nurses have.
Alot of people think that we are not "real nurses" or that we are lazy, or "hospitable rejects". That we definitely arent, while I'm not saying that we deal w the acuity of pts on a cardiac floor, ICU, or a trauma center. What I can tell you is that a nurse working in any of these units will never be alone when they have a pt going bad, there is always another nurse near by and there is always a dr somewhere in the facility. Where as when we have a pt going bad we are lucky if we have a family member to get EMS on the way to help us. We dont have AED's and 2 man CPR is not going to happen it's just 1 man until EMS arrives.
Lastly as a "home health" nurse I hate that you grouped hospice in to the same category of nursing as home health. While they are both medical care that is provided in the home they are two very different approaches to nursing, and sometimes its difficult to get pts the help they need because they dont want that stigma of being a "hospice patient". While there are many differences bw home health and hospice the biggest is that in home health our goal is to get our pts "better" or max rehab, where as in hospice it is more about "quality and comfort".
Oh and BTW when you have a patient that seems so textbook but the treatments just arent working for them. Get a home health nurse involved there is a good possibility that they will find something going on in the home that no one else thought about.
One in a Million Amy,
Thank you so much for your feedback! I want to first clarify that I was not intending to encompass everything that is involved in the entire category of home health, in this one video. From the beginning, this video was to give a very generic overview of some of the things that are seen in the home health setting, as discussing every skill available to be performed in the home by a skilled nurse would take quite a while. Just as there are areas and companies that have the resources to have specialized nurses for things like wound vacs or LVAD, there are also areas and companies that don’t have those resources and specialty nursing for those things and they are a “home health and hospice” company in many cases.
That being said, many of the home health nurses that I have worked with are VERY skilled in their specialty. I try not to ever bolster one type of nursing over another as I honestly believe that every category of nursing (even the subcategories like home health nurses that specialize in LVADs specifically etc) is crucial to the balance of patient care. Although I could not possibly cover every persons perspective on home health nursing, and every specialty certification or service available, the video was to give a very simple overview for brand new nursing students that have no exposure at all to the nursing field.
I have great respect for nurses in their specialties! There is a place for the LVAD trained cardiac home health nurse just as much as those that are Neuro Trauma ICU trained. The difference does not automatically mean there is a deficit from one to the other, but they are different in nature and needed in their own way. All nurses in every category of nursing should strive to provide the best possible care for their patients and have a desire to continue in their pursuit of knowledge indefinitely, in my opinion. Thank you again for your feedback! I hope that for those reading it they can see a closer look at a few more specialized things that are involved in some areas of home health!
There are many different types of home Heath jobs. Private duty or visiting. Home health and home care. Thanks for this lovely video:)
@@amyreagan334 Thank you for taking time to give us this information. I really appreciate 🙏💛.
What do you mean about Nursing Visit Frequency? Thanks for the Answer
Hey angelica! With a lot of home health care, insurance will pay for a certain visit frequency depending on what you are needing home health for. Although there are many different perspectives, I was referring to the frequency of visits per week. I hope this helps! Thanks for the comment!
Do you typically have to have a clean driving record to work as a Home Health Nurse?
Hey P.J. I am not 100% sure on this one so you'll want to do some of your own research. What I do know is that many home health organizations will require the use of your own car and need proof of license and insurance for that. The organizations that use their cars for the nurses may have different options. In short, I would say yes, you probably need a clean driving record. However there may be some things that are allowed. I hope this helps! Thanks for the comment!
I’m not doing ADLs..I just got a computer science degree and I can not understand any of it nor can I find a job so now I need to go into another field and start over..is there anyway not to do blood, shit, pee, showering, etc??? Like what nursing area could I do
Hey again Jane, sorry to tell you there really aren't any nursing fields I am aware of that will guarantee you won't interact with those things. It's kind of like being a mechanic and trying to avoid oil changes, it's a normal and regular part of the job and I'm not sure it's avoidable. There are some positions that may not require it but they typically require experience first, which requires interacting with all of those things. You could look into Telehealth perhaps but again, every Telehealth I'm aware of will require 2+ years of experience. Thanks for the comment!
@@nursology590 thank you for the reply! I’m finding that so many fields are so challenging to endure, nothing easy, that’s for sure!
@@musicandpoetry_8You can try wotking in psyhe facility where there is less exposure with fluids. Did you ever find a job in any field in nursing ? Good luck.
Can you do home health without doing toileting, bathing ughhh I’m so over everything
Hey Jane! I'm sure there are some versions of home health that don't do that as much as others, however it's well within the RN and LVP/LPN scope to toilet and bath patients. You might look into wound care home health or a version of home health that is relatively temporary for the patients. Even so, I'm not sure it's completely avoidable. Thanks for the comment!
How to get home health nurse certification?
Hi Katherine, you will need a nursing license to provide nursing care but there are many aspects of home health that have a lower barrier to entry. You could look into getting an LVN, or even starting with your CNA. Some states in the US have home health jobs that only require in house training but I don't know much about these off the top of my head. Thank you for the comment!
Thanks for the video, do home health nurses run night shifts?
Great question! There are some positions that will allow for night shift in home health but I don't think it's as regular as inpatient care (acute care). I think if you were looking for night time positions you could find them but there is a much higher concentration of home health that happens during the day. Thanks for the comment!
Iam a nurse.may I get a job in us like a care taker in home
In many states, being a "caregiver" doesn't require a license. However, some states or organizations require some sort of formal training. You will want to check into that first.
Personal care nursing is for Nurse assistants not RNs. You should know this if you’re a nurse. We home health nurses so skilled nursing. Don’t speak on things if you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Hey! Thanks for the comment! I'd love to hear more about what you do as a home health nurse! As I mentioned in the video, what RNs do in home health varies a lot from place to place and patient to patient. Personal care is an aspect of nursing that is handled by RNs in almost every aspect of nursing as we don't only preform skills but we care for our patients holistically. I have no doubt that the majority of tasks you do are highly skilled but I'm sure you're giving personal care, companionship and skilled nursing to every patient as well. Thanks again for the comment! Feel free to let us know what your day looks like when you're working to help those that have no frame of reference at all!