How To Work With A Home Care Nursing Agency (Complete With Pictures)
How To Work With A Home Care Nursing Agency - If you like the idea of working as a registered nurse (RN), but want a bit more flexibility in your schedule than you’d have in a hospital or doctor’s office, home health nursing might be a great career option for you. You may also prefer spending more time with less patients than you would in a hospital setting, or want a position that requires independence. If nursing is your passion, as well as teaching patients to care for themselves, home health nursing may be a great career choice.
Choosing and Working With an Agency
Apply for home health positions. Every agency will have their own instructions to apply for a position, but they all generally ask for the same information. Having your essential documents together and ready to copy for each application will make the process much easier for you and demonstrate your professionalism. Most agencies will ask for:
Cover letter and resume
Their agency-specific application
Transcripts of any degrees or course work
References
Photo identification and proof of right to work in the country in which you’re applying
Accurate contact information – phone number, home address, and email address
Interview agencies. Just as agencies will interview you, you should interview them. You can answer many of your questions by doing a bit of research. What you can’t answer beforehand, write down and take to your interview and when they ask if you have any questions, go through your list.
Ask what company owns the agency and how long they’ve been in business.
Ask if employees are insured and bonded through the agency.
Ask how the agency monitors employees to ensure optimal patient care.
Ask about licensing, classifications, and certifications. All home health nursing agencies have to meet licensing, classification, and certification requirements. Unfortunately, some agencies are less honest about this than others and advertise that their employees meet these requirements when they don’t. Any agency that you’re interviewing with should be able to provide information about these guidelines and how they meet them.
Ask about training opportunities. You’re a registered nurse and have completed extensive schooling. To maintain your license, you need ongoing training which will keep you up to date on new procedures, medical discoveries, treatments, and even technology.
Agencies typically won’t offer the training in house; rather, they should arrange for you to train at nearby facilities.
Your agency should also be responsible for any costs associated with your ongoing training.
Ask about employee turnover. The home health nursing industry, like many healthcare-related fields, has a higher than average turnover rate. Ask agencies how long RNs typically work with them as home health nurses. This will give you an indication of overall employee job satisfaction.
You can simply ask, "How long, on average, does an RN work with your agency as a home health nurse?" This is a tactful way to approach your question.
Having the Right Skills
Go to school. You’ll need to be a registered nurse (RN) to be a home health nurse, which requires schooling. Typically, RNs have their associate’s degree, which takes two to three years to complete. Many RNs go on to receive their bachelor’s degree in nursing, which allows for career advancement and a higher salary. No matter which you choose, you’ll need to pass your state licensing exam before you can work in your field.
You may also work as a home health aide, which requires no formal education beyond a high school diploma. Home health aides assist clients with activities related to daily living, and are under the supervision of a nurse.
Home health nurses and aides are employed through the same agencies, typically.
Enjoy your independence. As a home health nurse, you’ll have quite a bit of independence. You will likely work for an agency, and need to report to them, of course, but largely you’ll be responsible for your schedule and unsupervised home visits. This means you won’t spend much time in the office, but will also have added responsibilities.
Manage your time. As a home health nurse, you will have quite a bit of control over your schedule and need great time management skills. This means scheduling home visits, time in the office, prioritizing your tasks, time for administrative work, and ongoing training.
Maintain a digital calendar that you can synchronize across multiple devices so that you always have access and never risk losing your calendar.
Cultivate communication skills. You need good communication and interpersonal skills as a healthcare professional, and these are essential when working in the field as a home health nurse. You’re not only going to take care of patients’ needs, but you’ll be teaching them to take care of themselves, and being able to communicate with your patients, their loved ones, doctors, and your agency is imperative to being a home health nurse.
If you think that your communications skills could use improvement, consider purchasing a book about interpersonal skills, researching communication methods online, or even sign up for a Communications class at your local college.
If you are bilingual, you will be especially sought after, as you’ll be able to communicate with an even larger client base. For example, if you speak English as well as Spanish, Korean, or American Sign Language, make sure to let your agency know.
Keep organized. Keeping organized is of the upmost importance in home health nursing, especially because you bring your office and supplies with you, rather than seeing patients in a stationary setting. The more organized you are, the less time you’ll waste in your day looking for things. Also, you’ll be less likely to make mistakes or forget to do something if you maintain good organization.
Get everything you’ll need for your work day together the night before.
Don’t forget to take breaks and certainly remember to bring a lunch or some snacks and beverages.
Your schedule will change from day to day. Plan your route ahead of time for the most efficient travel plans.
Maintain good communication. As a home health nurse, you are the liaison between your patient, their loved ones, doctors, your agency, and, at times, Medicare. Maintaining good communication among all of these entities is imperative to you being able to do your job. If there is a change in treatment plans or patient care, your open lines of communication will ensure that your job is easier and that your patient gets the exact care that they need.
Consider having a work-only phone line so that when you are not on the clock you can "turn off."
Your agency should provide a method for doctors and patients to contact you verbally and in writing.
Be your own advocate. Your patients have the right to choose their healthcare providers, and while you are with an agency and have less input, you also have a right to advocate for yourself. If you find that you are unable to work with a client and have tried to resolve the issue, follow your agency’s protocols for requesting reassignment.
Preparing for Risks
Plan for environmental issues. As a home health nurse, you have no control over the space in which you see patients. You’ll be working with your patients in their homes, and may encounter environmental issues about which you have little input. Examples of environmental issues include smokers in the home, rodent or insect infestations, dangerous chemicals in the home, animals, or unsanitary conditions.
Of course, your agency will have protocols in place to minimize risks to you, and their contracts with patients may include verbiage that states that patients must make every effort to make the home safe for you.
If conditions are, in your professional opinion, unsafe, contact your agency, and if appropriate, local agencies that may assist you.
Protect yourself. Because you are attending to your patients in their homes, you may face an increased risk of violence for which you should be prepared. You may have a client that lives in a less-safe neighborhood, or perhaps in a poorly-lit area. On your initial visit, take note of anything that you deem risky and take appropriate preventative actions. Some examples of workplace violence for home health nurses include:
Verbal abuse from patients or their families and friends
Threats to harm you
Physical assaults
Mugging
Take appropriate precautions. As a healthcare worker, you run a much greater risk of exposure to a bloodborne pathogen or needle injury than the general population. Of course you are trained to take appropriate, universal precautions. This can be complicated in the home health nursing environment, though, as you will be teaching your patients to care for themselves, including how to do their own injections. Wear protective gloves, eye wear, and a mask to limit exposure.
The most common pathogens on contaminated needles are HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.
Your agency will comply with federal regulations in establishing procedures for you and your clients to minimize risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens and needles injury.
Use assistive devices. Home health nursing requires a lot of lifting and nurses risk injuring their backs, or spraining and straining everything from their wrists to their ankles. Fortunately, there are assistive devices available to help you properly lift your patient while reducing the impact on your body. Your agency will coordinate these devices as part of your patients’ care plans.
Shower chairs allow your patient to bathe somewhat independently without standing.
Raised toilet seats allow your patients to use the toilet without coming to a fully-seated position, which means you have less lowering and lifting to do and it’s less stressful on their joints.
Hoists allow you lift a patient who is unable to stand on their own.
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