Home Health Nursing: Care Beyond the Hospital Walls

• What is Home Health nursing?  
• What Do Home Health Nurses Do?  
• Pros and Cons of this Specialty 

Have you ever considered your options for providing care to patients beyond the hospital? Home Health Nursing is a unique specialty that provides one-on-one care to patients in their own homes. This is an established specialty within our American history. Home Health Nurses were traditionally termed “Visiting Nurses,” and the specialty gained traction in the early 1900s in New York.   

Home health nurses serve as case managers for their patients and communicate symptoms and issues to the provider. Case management also includes coordinating care with the healthcare team, such as physical therapists, occupational therapists, the patient and his or her family, and social workers. Home health nurses also oversee the care provided by home health aides (HHA).  

It is not surprising that most patients prefer to stay home if given the choice and if appropriate. The patient’s own environment is where home health nurses shine. Read on to learn what these nurses do during their daily workday.  

What Do Home Health Nurses Do?  

These nurses utilize excellent nursing assessment skills every day. They are the eyes and ears of the providers. Home health nurses provide skilled care that includes inserting or removing Foley catheters, administering oral or IV medications, providing wound care, and managing and providing drain care – such as chest or abdominal drains or JP drains.  

Home health nurses are also trained to remove staples and sutures. They can administer injections – such as vitamin B12- in certain cases. Usually, agency policies state that home health nurses do not administer the first dose of an injection. These nurses also can provide and manage advanced wound care such as wound vacs.   

Home health nurses provide care to adults and geriatrics, patients with psychiatric illnesses, pediatrics, or post-partum new mothers, depending on the agency. Regardless of the sub-specialty, the connecting theme is that the nurse is providing care to the patient in the patient’s home.  

Pros and Cons of this Specialty 

Some pros to working in this specialty are that nurses enjoy working autonomously and are in charge of their schedules. This means the home health nurse schedules their patients and the route they will drive. Nurses must be organized and have good time management skills.  

If you love teaching, home health nursing may be a great fit for you. Nurses in this specialty teach patients how to manage their medications, their drains, and how to manage chronic diseases. Nurses want to empower patients to take charge of their own health and will give patients tools to do this.   

Another pro to home health nursing is that it is generally not as physically demanding as a traditional hospital nursing job. Home health nurses will be able to take breaks and sit while driving to the next patient. Nurses will be able to take mental and physical breaks like listening to music and working on documentation in their cars or at a pit stop.  

Some cons to this specialty are that there is a lot of documentation. Depending on the agency, documentation may be electronic –entered into a tablet or laptop –or can be written on paper and submitted to the agency’s office. Nurses should be prepared for this. Nurses will also learn about a specific set of assessment questions called OASIS. These assessment questions can be tedious to learn at first. With anything, it takes practice, and agencies train nurses on these assessment requirements.  

Another item to keep in mind is that patients must meet specific eligibility rules to be eligible to receive home care services. Medicare is the largest payer for home healthcare, and nurses in this specialty must understand the requirements that patients must meet.  Again, nurses are trained on the rules, but it is different from hospital nursing.  

Home health nurses need their own vehicles and are expected to drive a lot. Their vehicles should be in good condition with up-to-date insurance. Nurses will also be expected to drive in inclement weather and should keep emergency supplies with them. Did we mention that nurses keep their medical supplies in their cars? Organization of all the stuff is key! 

The Bottom Line

Home health nursing is an exciting specialty that helps patients recover from surgery or manage chronic conditions in their homes. It has aspects that are unique to the specialty, such as specific documentation requirements, managing supplies, and caring for patients one-on-one. Just like other specialties, there are challenges and expectations to meet, such as using critical thinking and having excellent time management.  

Home health nurses love to teach and empower patients to manage their disease conditions. Patients are in their element and comfortable in their own homes. If you’re thinking of a new specialty that offers more flexibility than the hospital setting, consider home health nursing.  

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