![]() But the rewards are many as we are given the opportunity to care for our patients in a home environment that is less affected by the distractions we have all had to contend with in a busy hospital unit. And with that comes the richness of the nurse-patient relationship. In-home nursing is the perfect vehicle supporting this belief. I can arrange my visits according to driving distance for efficiency or the patient’s plan of care which may involve an early lab draw, a detailed dressing change, or just the need to spend additional time with a challenging patient.Īn important reason that I choose to stay in home health nursing is my belief that we can be a kinder and gentler nation when we allow individuals to recover, heal and regroup in their own homes following a health crisis. In home health, I plan my day with the help of our new electronic medical record system (EMR), Homecare Homebase. Very often, the impact of so many unpredictable factors played a role in extending my time spent in the unit. I recall my years working the hospital units and the stress of punching a time clock and trying to get odds-and-ends done by the end of my shift to leave at a reasonable time. Not all of us have a long commute, some of us are able to see patients in their own neighborhoods.Įither way, it’s your preference, which offers you significant control over your schedule and timing. Atlanta traffic being what it is, I leave my home around 7:30AM and make it to my territory between 8:30 and 9AM. There are days when I may see an extra patient to help the team or address something unexpected that has come up with one of my patients. There are days when I may see less than six if a visit involves high skill or a start-of-care. ![]() ![]() ![]() That usually looks like 9 to 11, 12 to 2, 3 to 5 and with some overlapping when needed. I typically see six patients a day and give each patient a two-hour window in which to expect my visit. My day in home health nursing actually begins the evening before when I call my patients that are scheduled to be seen the next day and set up a visit window. It turned out that the very reasons I loved critical care nursing-the pace, the skill set, the autonomy, the depth of the nurse-patient relationship-became the same reasons I now love home health nursing. I’d never drained a pleurex catheter, changed a negative pressure dressing with or without a bridge, changed a suprapubic catheter, or done compression wraps. Not only was I able to use my skills again, but there were also quite a few that I had to learn. Much to my surprise, I fell in love with it. I went into the field cautiously as I had been out of mainstream nursing for quite some time. As I reached my 10 year anniversary as a school nurse, I wondered if I could get back in the front lines and use my skills once again which led me to a position at my local in-home agency in Connecticut. I had my children late in life and by the time they were up and running, I needed to change my pace and segued into school nursing for the schedule and summers off. Over those years I’ve done a broad variety of nursing with the greatest concentration in adult critical care. Not old in spirit or necessarily old in age depending on your viewpoint, I’ve just been in nursing for a fair number of years, 38 to be exact. VNHS | Hospice Atlanta Volunteer Applicationīefore I tell you about my typical day as a home health nurse, I want to tell you how I ended up in this career.VNHS| Hospice Atlanta Volunteer Program.Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Respite Program.Visiting Nurse Community Care Services Program.Bereavement Support – Virtual Support Groups.
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