20 Years in Homecare Tips from Homecare Veterans for ‘Newbies’

Cindy Dauner Rider, RN, MPH, CPHQ
Cindy started in homecare in 1984, just 10 months out of nursing school.  She learned how to do some things wrong before she got them right.  That’s why she’s a big believer in providing an organized approach for staff education.  Her most recent accomplishment was a corporate orientation manual for contracted staff. 

Here are some things Cindy would tell a new homecare nurse.
• Keep your nursing skills up to date.  Homecare demands more.
• Work on your organizational skills.  Average won’t make it in homecare.
• Always find out where it’s written.  Too many times, opinions become the facts of life.
• Spend time with your patient – 20, 30 minutes, an hour – whatever it takes to figure out what to do to maintain the patient at home.  Cindy believes one-to-one interaction is the key to preventing hospitalizations.
• View the total picture.  Successful patient care often goes beyond care of the patient. 
• Plan ahead for both your patient and you.

Cindy, of New Orleans, is the Clinical Oversight Specialist for Amedisys Home Health Services.
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Barbara Martin, RN, BSN
Barbara started in 1980 at a small county agency; she is now with an agency in a metropolitan area.  During her career, she has hired, oriented, and supervised many, many nurse.

 Some things she looks for in a new nurse include these:
• Strong clinical skills – homecare is not the best place to learn these.
• Critical thinking ability – build on life’s experiences, adapt, and come up with solutions. 
• The capacity to teach patients of all age with multiple diagnoses – figure out what they need, help them acquire the skills.
• Setting priorities – nurses with triage skills can be good candidates for homecare.
• Attention to detail – doing things right the first time makes everything simpler.
• The ability to enjoy solitude and independence – homecare nurses spend time alone while finding their way to homes.
• And Barbara’s key to success:  The flexibility to adapt to whatever comes along.  The only constant in homecare is change. 

Barbara is the Quality Assurance and Improvement Consultant for Palmetto Health HomeCare in Columbia, SC, a Premium member of the Beacon Institute.  The most important thing she has learned from Beacon Health:  Always take it back to the written source. 
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Jeannie Dick, RN
In 1985, Jeannie started working with a small agency in rural Mississippi as the only field nurse, sent out on visits with very little orientation.  Within a few weeks, the director quit and she was the only nurse.  Those early days taught her about the value of education. 

Here are some of Jeannie’s tips for new homecare nurses.
• Listen to your inner voice.  It will help you decide on the right path. 
• Be motivated to do your best.  Homecare nurses do not have the same supervision as those in hospitals so they must be more autonomous. 
• Care about homecare.  It takes a special person to be a homecare nurse. 
• Do the best you can for your patients.  And, in turn, you’ll be rewarded.  Jeanne believes homecare nursing is the best kind. 

Jeannie is the Patient Care Coordinator for Kare-in-Home Health in Biloxi, MS.  Her agency has the lowest rate of hospitalization in the state of Mississippi, which she credits to a very structured orientation and ongoing education program.