What is a Home Health Nurse?
By Jessica Holbrook, MSN, RN
Nurses have many different career options and specialties to choose from. They can work in hospitals, schools, and almost anything in between. One of the most flexible, high-paying, and rewarding specialties can be found as a home health nurse.
Home health nursing
Rather than seeing patients who come to hospitals or clinics, a home health nurse travels to their patients' homes. Home health nurses are hired by an agency that contracts with insurance companies, hospitals, and rehabilitation centers. Nurses are assigned to care for patients within a certain geographical area. Those home health nurses then coordinate with the patients or their family members to schedule visits.
Types of home health
Most healthcare professionals know that home health is an option, but they might wonder, “what does a home health nurse do?” There are several subspecialties of home health, and some home health nurses take care of a variety of patients’ needs. Types of care home health nurses often provide include:
- Medication management: Patients who take many different medications, have difficult dosing schedules, or use high-risk medications may need help organizing, taking, and keeping track of their regimen. Home health nurses often visit patients to ensure that they are taking the correct medications at the right time and in the right amounts.
- Wound care: One of the most common duties of a home health nurse is to perform wound care. Rather than keeping a patient with complex dressings in the hospital for weeks at a time, a home health nurse can come to the patient’s residence to care for their wounds. Some patients with serious wounds or injuries may need home health visits more than once a day. Related: Best Practices for Skin and Wound Care Management
- Infusion: Patients in need of intravenous infusions may not be able to come into the hospital. Whether they lack transportation, live too far from the hospital, or are unable to leave their home, a home health nurse can make sure they are taken care of. Infusions may include IV antibiotics, TPN, or even some types of chemotherapy. Infusion nurses are usually responsible for maintaining central access. This may mean changing sterile central line dressings or accessing implanted ports. Related: IV Infusion Therapy and Injectable Clinic Startup
- Blood draws: Patients on medications such as warfarin or newly diagnosed with diabetes may need frequent monitoring and blood draws. Home health nurses may collect blood samples from patients in their homes and drive them to the nearest laboratory for analysis.
- Palliative care and hospice nursing: Home health nurses often specialize in palliative care and hospice care. These nurses typically build strong relationships with patients and their family members. They are responsible for managing a patient's medications, keeping family and physicians updated on their patients' condition, and helping to create a loving and peaceful environment for patients at the end of their lives. Related: Palliative Care and Pain Management at the End of Life
- Care coordination: Patients in need of home health often need many types of healthcare services, including physical and occupational therapy, behavioral health, speech therapy, dietician services, and help from a CNA. The home health nurse assigned to these patients is usually very involved in care coordination and schedule management.
- Overnight respite care: Home health nurses are often hired by families of children with complex medical needs. Medically complex children may need round-the-clock care, hourly medications, and constant monitoring of life-saving equipment. Home health nurses may be hired to spend the night in the homes of these families, allowing parents or family caregivers time to rest, care for the rest of their family, work, or take care of other responsibilities.
How to become a home health nurse
Nurses who love the bedside but long to be away from hospital care may wonder how to work in home healthcare as a nurse. Because home health nurses do not have as many resources as those working in hospitals or clinics, they often need to have some bedside experience before transitioning to home health.
While most agencies prefer to hire registered nurses, there are some companies that will hire licensed practical nurses. In addition to having a nursing license, home health nurses need to develop the following skills:
- Work independently
- Great critical thinking skills
- IV placement and management
- BLS certification
- Wound care
To become a more competitive job applicant, home health nurses can also test for the following special certifications from the ANCC:
- Nursing Case Management Certification
- Pain Management Nursing Certification
- Pediatric Nursing Certification
- Gerontological Nursing Certification
Advantages of home health nursing
A home health nurse's salary in the United States is around $74,387, or $41 per hour. They are also paid for miles driven between patients, reimbursed for fuel, and may receive extra money for visiting patients who live further away. Overtime opportunities, night and weekend differentials, and holiday pay are also available.
They have some of the most flexible scheduling of any nursing job, and many are able to work with patients directly to find times to stop by. Many home health nurses love getting to visit different locations every day, and enjoy the time between their patients listening to music or audiobooks.
In addition to decent pay and flexible scheduling, home health is one of the most rewarding nursing specialties. Because they enter people’s homes and often care for the same patients over long periods of time, home health nurses build close relationships with patients and families.