I have been working in Home Care for 13 years now.
I’ve seen many nurses come and go.
Many nurses have a misconception of what Home Care Nursing is.
So I thought it would be a good idea to put together a list of 5 reasons why Home Care Nursing may not be for you.
5 Reasons Home Care Nursing is not for you
1. Organization – If you can not get organized at your current nursing job, don’t think about coming to home Health. You must have very good organizational skills or at least be willing to work on these skills, otherwise you’ll find yourself hating the job and it will become overwhelming very quickly.
2. Driving – If you don’t like driving around all day and sometimes as far away as 100 miles (depending what part of the country you’re working in) please don’t consider home healthcare. Have a plan in place if your car breaks down so you know who to call and buy a GPS – This is a Must!
3. Working with different economic and cultural backgrounds – If you don’t like a certain group of people that represent an economical or religious or cultural background that doesn’t align with your beliefs, home healthcare may not be the best fit for you.
I’ve worked with nurses who don’t want to see people in the city because they don’t live in the best neighborhoods or someone who has a certain religious belief (yes this does happen) You don’t have a choice, everyone gets treated the same way and you must go where the patients are. not where you like to go.
Seriously take this into consideration when thinking of making a move to home care nursing.
4. Flexibility – It you don’t like having your schedule changed just as your heading out the door to see your first patient or client, reconsider. In Home healthcare you do need to be flexible because your schedule can change very quickly due to people concealing or still in the hospital or transferred to a rehab or nursing home. Be prepared to be flexible, this is also a must!
5. Working Interdependently – If you need a structured environment and need to be told what to do all the time, home healthcare is not for you. You must be confident in your nursing skills to be able to make on the spot decisions about a patient’s care, they are depending on you.
This doesn’t mean you can’t call a colleague for advice about a difficult case but know that you are expected to be able to make decisions without always calling for help.
Home Healthcare Nursing is not for every nurse. It is hard work of a different kind requiring critical thinking, organizational, communication and great listening skills.
Tina 🙂