Job: Home care specialist/educator for Visiting Nurse Health System in Atlanta.
What I do: “Recently I have moved into an education role while recovering from surgery. I teach computer documentation to staff and clinicians. Previously, I was a nurse manager and managed a 90-patient caseload.”
How I got into this: “I’ve been a nurse [for] 31 years. I’ve worked as a neonatal transport nurse, in a neonatal intensive care unit and in pediatric and adult emergency departments. My husband is a nurse, too, and we tried to work opposite shifts so that someone would be home with our four kids.
“About 15 years ago, a friend suggested I try home health because it would give me more flexibility to take care of my family. One patient, who was dying out in the country, got to me. I’ve been passionate about home health ever since.”
Best part of the job: “Professional growth. I had strong clinical skills, but once you’re working outside the hospital, you develop your critical-thinking skills even more. I like the autonomy and I like being able to learn new things all the time.”
Most challenging part of the job: “Time management. This job could go from sunup until way past sundown if you don’t have a plan. Older patients are lonely and want to chat. I enjoy that part of the job, but you learn to multitask.
“The second challenge is keeping up with all the new equipment, medications, technology and treatments.”
What people don’t know about my job: “People don’t understand all the variety of skills you need in home health. You learn to be a wound-care nurse, an infusion nurse and to care for pretransplant patients on left- ventricle assist devices, which keeps their heart pumping. I’ve seen new babies and a 102-year-old on the same day.
“In the hospital, you usually work on a unit where you specialize in heart or stroke nursing. In home health you have to be a multispecialist.”
What keeps me going: “I love being able to make a positive change in someone’s health and educate them about how to talk to their doctor or care for themselves. And I love having the opportunity to learn so much about people. The elderly are so much fun and insightful. I’ve learned a lot from my patients about being a good person.”
Preparation needed: “You need to be a registered nurse to be a case manager. It’s very helpful to have a background in med/surge, ICU or ER nursing — to have worked someplace where you have seen a lot of disease processes.”
Salary range: “The salaries are comparable to hospital nursing [average wage about $56,730 per year in Georgia, according to Wage Finder]. Many companies pay by the visit, depending on the type of visit and your rate.”
Got a health care job that you love? Please send e-mail to jbrieske@ajc.com.
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