Those who have worked as a CNA

firsttogo

What are some benefits (are there any?) to working for a home healthcare agency vs a nursing home? I am trying to get a variety of experience, and am currently in a LTC facility. I would like to also have hospice experience before looking into working at a hospital (which would like 6+ months experience)

Any input? 

sweetpea18

I worked as a cna during high school and college. I worked in ltc/snf because it was the most flexible with my schedule. I went to school during the day and worked evenings. After all of my residents were in bed, I could work on homework my college roommate worked for home health. She did not like it, because she never knew what she was walking into. More than once, she threw her scrubs away after leaving someone's house. Plus, she had people cancel on her or not answer the door all of the time. The only reason she stayed with it was the fact that she was in nursing school. She could work as much or little as age wanted, depending on her class schedule and clinical rotations.

sweetpea18

I forgot to add...Medicare is making a lot of changes. I'm an occupational therapist and therapists are running from home health because of huge cuts. I'm not sure how all of the changes have affected nursing, but it might be something you ask about.

softbalangel

Lurker chiming in...

I worked in both a LTC facility and at a hospital while in college. I didn't do home healthcare but one of my friends currently works as a home health care CNA. She really enjoys it because it gives her a little more flexibility with her schedule. She mainly works with quadriplegics though. 

If you are interested you may want to look into working for a staffing agency. This would allow you the chance to potentially work in multiple different settings. I worked for an agency that was affiliated with one of the major hospitals where I lived. I actually got the chance to work out of different hospitals in the region, as well as got experience working in different areas (peds, pysch, cardiac, etc).

Back to lurking...

jenwill

I forget-are you in nursing school? If so, is there an area you're thinking about working as a nurse?If so, I'd try to work in that field as a CNA first (also helps you make contacts to get a job later).

I personally was wary of home health (as NA and RN) due to where you have to go and being by yourself. My rotations during nursing school were pretty horrible (low income, no ac, bad areas, sketchy family members) and that kind scared me away from that. My mom did home health nursing for a while too as an RN and had similar situations (in a whole different town than I was in). Just something to think about.