Home       Message Board      About Home Health Nursing Page 1 2 3          Can Home Health Nursing Save Your Nursing Spirit? I am dedicating this section of my site to the recruitment of home health nurses. Why? Because I truly feel that Home Health Nursing saved my nursing spirit, and if you are burned out from working in hospitals, I believe it can save your nursing spirit too! See Also: Sub-Specialties in Home Health Nursing (page 2) Home Health vs. Hospital Nursing (page 3)

A few years ago, I was in a place in my nursing career, after over 20 years of hospital nursing - most of that in cardiac critical care, where I was ready to throw in the towel. I was plotting my "escape" to a "cushy case management job" in an insurance company. Despite my many years of nursing experience, I couldn't get my foot in the door without Home Health experience. After being rejected for dozens of case management jobs, I finally, and reluctantly, decided to get the necessary home health experience on my resume.     Right from the start, I was made to feel welcome, and even though we didn't work side-by-side all day long, I felt an incedible comaraderie with my co-workers. They shared their wisdom with me, and soon, they were asking me to see their cardiac patients and share my expertise with them. I had never experienced such a high degree of respect in any of my other nursing positions. I cruised around in the sunshine (and the rain, and the snow) with the tunes blasting, stopping home at lunch everyday to do the mornings charting and paperwork. I have since done intake work and weekend supervision in this field, and I still love it.

What to expect in Home Health Nursing

Home health nursing is a specialty with many rewards. Nurses are able to spend one-on one time with their patients and do the kind of teaching that their patients deserve. Nurses in home health also have a great deal of autonomy in practice. Home health nurses collaborate with the physician to develop the plan of care, goals, and desired outcomes for an individual client.  Physicians rely heavily on the assessments and recommendations of the home health nurse as to what treatments will be most effective (this is particularly true in wound care) in that client's particular situation, as the nurse has insight, which the physician, who is not in the home, does not.     Because of this increased responsibility and freedom of practice, home health nurses should have, at a minumum,one year acute care experience in med-surg nursing, or in the sub-specialty of home health in which they wish to practice. Nurses entering home health, must have excellent assessment skills, not only in phsyical assessment, but also in psychosocial and environmental assessments as well. They should also be knowledgeable in the principles of patient education for client's of all developmental levels and abilities.

We all learn in nursing school that nurses must remain non-judgemental, and this was never more true than in home health nursing. Nurses may encounter situations and lifestyles, which are in conflict with their own values. The nurse may value cleanliness and hygeine, whereas a client may not. Home health nurses must be accepting and tolerant of the choices a client makes about his or her life. In home health, the client is in control, unlike in the hospital where meals and meal times, medications, and visiting hours are controlled. Home health nurses must be creative problem solvers and must be willing to include the client and caregivers in the plan of care in order to be effective.     Good documentation skills are essential in home health. Reimbursement is based upon the documentation. It is in each nurse's own best interests to stay updated on the latest treatments, and reimbursement regulations, in order to keep a home health agency solvent, and ensure continued employment. Being knowledgeable about the latest treatments can also be useful in determining the most cost-effective way to deliver care. For example, using a hydrocolliod dressing for a stage II decubitus and changing it every five days, may be less expensive than the cost of daily nursing visits and supplies for normal saline wet-to-dry dressings, though both treaments may be appropriate.

The Following procedures are frequently performed in home health:

Phlebotomy Administration of selected medications via SC, IM, or IV routes Wound Care Tracheal suctioning and Trach Care Catheter changes; Foley, Supra-pubic, Gastrostomy

I want to learn more! Go to Subspecialties in Home Health Nursing                                              Home Health vs. Hospital Nursing

The content on this page is copyright of the Web Mistress March 2001

Home     Message Board     About Home Health  Page  1 2 3       About the Web Mistress