getting old
Hi, I am 56 and still ICU nursing. I have cut down from 60 hrs to36 per week, but I agree it is still hard. I had a few years when I was ill and had to take a play job. I did home IV infusions and wound care. The pay was wonderful. I was lucky enough to work for a company that did home health for United Health Care patients. I did not have to do the medicare
paperwork. I recently saw an ad for paperless home health--dont know what was involved. Companies vary, some pay mileage and drive time, some only pay for actual time with the patient. If you have patients in an assisted living facility, you could have multiple cases at the same site. You write your own salary since you get paid by case, you can do all or only some visits (no night visits) if you dont want to or you can do the q6h antibiotics. I was greedy and I worked 12 to 16 hrs per day and made 20000 yes, 20 grand per month. It was easy, fun and enough patients that you could choose whose case you wanted to keep and who you didnot. I did teachers, company presidents, stock brokers at their homes, at their offices. I picked the time, not the patient so I did not have to back track. I went up the county and down the county. You have a lot of control. Most doctors and insurance companies will give you anything you want for your patients. You want IV antibiotics, wound cultures, doctors visits--you get it. Its a great job, you dont do baths, you dont pick up anything heavy, you do your own teaching and you control how much time you spend with each patient.