What does a home health care nurse do—and how do I become one?
One of the greatest aspects of nursing is the variety of roles you can fill in the span of one career arc. Ask any nurse with decades of experience what fields they have dabbled in, and you’ll never get the same answer twice! That’s the beauty of nursing—you really can find the position that’s best suited for you.
Becoming a Home Health Nurse (HHN) is a pretty doable transition for just about any nurse with decent clinical experience. HHNs are great communicators, able to speak plainly with both patients and its family members . They are flexible, able to change schedules, assignments, and acuity without becoming too discombobulated.
And lastly, they are compassionate—working in a number of different home settings invites you onto your patients’ turf; remaining compassionate in lieu of judgmental, and being able to administer medication and maintain your professional composure no matter the state of the home environment is a major job requirement.
If those attributes fit you—then read on; it’s now time to learn more about what exactly a HHN does on the daily, and how to get started in this field.
Types of Home Health Nursing
HHNs are an autonomous bunch. Home care nurses are well-organized and enjoy the type of nursing where no two days are alike. Most home health jobs fall into one of three categories.
Staffed Care
Staffed care demands the most involved care. Typically, during these shifts you will be assigned to a patient requiring round-the-clock care.
These patients are generally bed-bound, ventilator-dependent, and may be on various other forms of life-support. If you value the relationships that you develop with patients over the long-term, this may be the best place to start your search.
Intermittent Care
Intermittent care is sub-acute care that is task-based. Think wound-care, medication administration, including IV therapy, and post-op recovery care assistance. Visits are typically complete in a few hours at most, and a great deal of education is involved in order to restore the patient’s ability to care for themselves.
Hospice Care
Hospice care entails providing end-of-life care for terminal patients, along with supporting the family through the death transition of their loved one. Unlike the previous two forms of home heath care, hospice nursing is specialized and you will need specific training/certifications to perform this job.
No matter which aspect of home health nursing attracts you, your duties will be similar to those you perform if the patient were in a hospital setting. For example, taking vitals and doing full assessments, updating care plans and communicating with the patients’ care team with recommendations, medication administration, and continuous reassessments.
Being in a patient’s home is an intimate experience. You’ll also need to prepare to work in a variety of different settings, around pets, differing levels of cleanliness, as well as managing family expectations and education.
You’ll need to remain not just well-organized, but anticipatory towards your potential needs of the day—there’s no running to the supply room for what you may have forgotten!
What You’ll Make and How to Start
Like any nursing job, what you can expect to bring in depends on your experience level and where you are located. In general, though, salaries range between $70,000-$90,000 a year starting out. Working full time and/or part-time positions (with no benefits) may net you a higher per-hour rate, but be sure to do your research for what you can expect in your area before taking on a new position.
In order to be considered as a competitive candidate, most home care staffing agencies require a bachelor's degree in Nursing (BSN). For nurses who hold a degree in nursing ADN, look into bridge programs —you may find that your potential employer has programs to help with tuition!
Also, considering the current nursing shortage and employee-centered labor market we’re currently in, you may find potential employers to be more open to ADN-prepared nurses with experience than they have been in the past.
The good news is that most home health agencies don’t require more than a current, valid registered nurse (RN)—and driver’s—license, and some degree of nursing experience. For pediatric cases with specialized equipment, you’ll likely find agencies willing to train on the job.
As noted above, the one type of home health care nursing that does require certifications and specialized training is hospice care.
If you’ve read this far nodding along, thinking nursing care might just be the perfect gig for you, then—great! Now you’ll need to know where to get your foot in the door.
LinkedIn is a great place to start—both to find current job openings, and to get a feel for employees currently working at the organizations looking. Other job sites like indeed , Zip Recruiter , and nurse.com are also good places to start for job postings.
And, if you’re still in the ‘gathering research’ phase of your job search, we encourage you to peruse the ‘groups section’ on social.nursedeck.com! There you’ll be able to connect with current home health nurses who will be more than willing to answer questions, network, and give you a helping hand!