NigCareers

Are you searching for a home care nurse job description? Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a home care nurse. Feel free to use our home care nurse job description template to produce your own home care nurse job description. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a home care nurse.

 

Who is a Home Care Nurse?

Home care nursing is referred to as a nursing specialty in which nurses offer patients of all ages multifaceted care at home. Home care nurses (also known as home health nurses) are registered nurses who offer home-based care for patients, frequently as follow-up care after discharge from a hospital or other medical care facility. Home care is a convenient and cost-effective approach to providing high-quality care to clients. Based on the client’s diagnosis, home care nurses develop care plans to accomplish goals. Preventive, therapeutic, and rehabilitative measures may be a part of these regimens. Certified Nurse Assistants (CNAs) are also under the supervision of home health nurses.

In addition to offering services, home care nurses discuss with doctors the patient’s condition and offer feedback on any potential adjustments that need to be made to the care plan. Home care nurses have a wide range of responsibilities. In addition to administering medications, teaching patients about their current diagnoses, offering emotional support, and providing basic care like personal hygiene, home care nurses also promote health and illness prevention. Home health nurses can also act as case managers for the patient, coordinating services from several specialties. This can include healthcare, pharmacies, neighbourhood resources, and more. Another crucial aspect of a home care nurse’s job is ensuring that patients receive the most modern and efficient treatment possible. They accomplish this by continuously staying current with new findings.

Because they are not employed by a facility, home care nurses can be independent and learn effective time management. In the course of providing patient care, they frequently contact patients’ families, therefore in addition to being clinically proficient, they also need to have excellent communication skills and a tolerance for a variety of cultural norms. For patients and their families, home care nurses offer in-home healthcare services. In addition to allowing patients to remain in the comfort of their homes, their visits assist family caregivers in keeping track of the health of the people they are caring for. They supervise the patient’s at-home care plan while working under the direction of a doctor. The primary focus of the home health nurse’s duties is the requirements of the patients.

The home care nurses offer treatment in collaboration with a doctor and other medical professionals, like us other nurses. When she makes a home visit, she evaluates the patient’s health, takes vital signs including blood pressure, and treats wounds as necessary. When patients need them, home health nurses frequently manage and provide prescription medications. She might also examine individuals who are confined to beds for muscle weakness and bed sores. She documents each visit in writing and sends it to the patient’s doctor. She points out problems with the patient’s care and offers suggestions for adjustments. During her visits, she converses with any present family caregivers, hears their worries, and provides them with updates on the patient’s condition.

A bachelor’s degree from a nursing school is required for home care nurses. The BSN typically requires four years to complete. Along with liberal arts courses, you will take science courses in anatomy, biology, physiology, and chemistry. Programs for accredited BSNs frequently provide classes in psychology, leadership, and communication. You must also finish the supervised clinical practice component of this degree. A nurse cannot work as a home care nurse unless she has earned her BSN and passed the NCLEX-RN exam. Nursing license applications are approved by the licensing board in each state.

A home care nurse needs to have between one and two years’ worth of experience in a similar position. Three to five years of experience are needed for mid-level positions. Typically, candidates with more than five years of experience are needed for senior positions that involve leading a group of other home care nurses. It will be helpful if you have prior knowledge in developing a home healthcare plan, managing medical records, treating and preventing bedsores, and working in a residential environment. In some circumstances, volunteer experience could be accepted. Depending on the exact function, different levels of experience may be required. You should be a compassionate person who can handle a variety of jobs without being afraid to take on new challenges if you want to be a great home care nurse. The best candidates have the mental fortitude and resiliency to care for patients and, if necessary, can help family members emotionally.

 

Home Care Nurse Job Description

What is a home care nurse job description? A home care nurse job description is simply a list of duties and responsibilities of a home care nurse in an organization. Below are the home care nurse job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a home care nurse job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.

A Home Care Nurse has several vital duties and responsibilities which include:

• Administer medical treatment and comfort to patients in their homes.
• Offer patients caring, individualized nursing care.
• Give patients access to diagnostic and other lab tests.
• Help and encourage patients to plan their physical activities.
• Assess and analyze the patient’s emotional, psychological, and physical elements.
• Give them the necessary physical, psychological, and other therapies.
• Organize, prioritize, and plan visits to homes, communities, and residents to administer nursing care therapy.
• Collaborate with other nursing professionals to give patients high-quality medical treatment.
• Maintain records of all patient therapy interventions.
• Make sure patients are served by nursing care rules and guidelines.
• Adapt in-home nursing care as directed by a doctor, if necessary.
• Evaluate and record the patient’s physiological, psychological, and cognitive status.
• Inform and train patients, patient’s families, and other staff members about the provision of in-home patient care.
• Plan and carry out a patient-specific diet plan based on nutrition in cooperation with your doctor.
• Organize the delivery of in-home care for patients with doctors and other healthcare professionals.
• Maintain current information and trends to give patients the best service possible.
• Develop and launch creative strategies that result in high-quality patient care.
• Carry out other tasks as directed.
• Visit patients at home and manage their care plans by medical advice.
• Take blood pressure, glucose, urine, and stool samples provide medication and insulin, and complete the testing.
• Examine wounds, alter bandages, and take care of personal hygiene.
• Check for bedsores, evidence of infection, and indicators of muscle weakness.
• Hear family members’ concerns and address their questions.
• Give doctors and the patient’s family recommendations for better healthcare.
• Keep an eye on the patient’s recuperation and generate reports for the doctor.
• Keep up with medical advancements by attending workshops and lectures as necessary.
• Develop better diets and healthcare regimens for patients in collaboration with healthcare professionals.

 

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in nursing, health science or a similar discipline.
• Previous work experience as a nurse or any related position.
• Nursing licensure and certification are required.
• Nursing apprenticeship experience.
• Outstanding observational and problem-solving skills.
• The ability to adhere to instructions.
• The ability to act independently when needed.
• Outstanding report writing skill is required.
• Must have active listening skills.
• Must be empathetic at all times.
• Communication and interpersonal skills.
• Physical strength and stamina.
• Must have a state-approved driver’s license and be mobile at all times.

 

Essential Skills

• Interpersonal skills: Every nurse needs to have some degree of interpersonal and communication skills. To carry out home care services, the nurse involved must, nevertheless, possess strong interpersonal skills. The majority of your day will be spent visiting patients in their homes, gathering information about their health, and offering both basic personal care and medical support. Gaining patient trust, developing a personal connection with them, and getting to know them will not only help you provide better care but will also make you feel much more at ease and enjoy your job.
• Independence and action-oriented: To succeed, home care nurses need to be highly independent and proactive. This is because, as a home care nurse, you don’t have a head nurse or doctor guiding your every step, unlike in a hospital or office situation. You frequently serve as both the employer and the employee in a patient’s home. Although you occasionally must comply with patients’ requests and directives, you also need to be able to move quickly in an emergency, make independent decisions, and operate efficiently.
• Patience and flexibility: Excellent tolerance, flexibility, and adaptability are among the essential skills required of home care nurses. Patients sometimes struggle to communicate because of their poor mental and physical health, incoherence, and other issues. Additionally, you can work in untidy or poorly maintained residences. A great home care nurse is adaptable enough to handle a serious geriatric case one moment and a simpler child case the next. Additionally necessary to meet the demands of the job is physical stamina.
• Detail-oriented: As a home care nurse, you must follow many guidelines and procedures to provide the finest care possible. Every facet of your patient’s condition, surroundings, and development must be closely scrutinized. Thus, every tiny detail should be taken into mind.
• Emotional fortitude: The home care industry may be an extremely stressful and emotional place to work. There’s a chance that many of your patients will be in excruciating pain. Additionally, you must be sensitive to their requirements while guarding against burnout and emotional exhaustion.
• Integrity: To work as a home care nurse, you must be extremely reliable and trustworthy. That is, you must be a person of integrity. Your customers and their families need to be confident in your abilities and moral character. They opened up their home and their lives to you, so you must approach this with the utmost respect and professionalism.
• Clinical Skills: Excellent clinical skills, which are acquired during the lab phase of a nursing education program, are a requirement for home care nurses. Central abilities include the ability to administer immunizations, set up and monitoring IVs, change dressings, and offer tube feedings. A strong ability to counsel patients on correct self-care, prescription use, and healthy behaviours is another requirement for home care nurses. Instead of being emergency care or being given in response to particular medical situations, in-home care is often therapeutic or supportive.
• Physical stamina. There are some physical demands associated with the work of home healthcare services. You might have to spend a lot of time standing. The patient you are caring for could need to be lifted, turned, or moved. You may need to move some really big medical supplies. Thus, having some physical strength will be beneficial.

 

How to Become a Home Care Nurse

Step 1. Obtain a nursing degree

You must earn a nursing degree before deciding to work as a home care nurse. Every employer will have specific standards for prior learning and work experience. Potential candidates for these positions include nurses with a practical nursing diploma, an associate degree in nursing, or a bachelor’s degree in nursing. While your ability to work as a home care nurse may not be affected by your degree, your nursing duties will change depending on your degree level. As a registered nurse (RN), you will be able to work more independently and give your patients a wider spectrum of treatment if you have an ASN or BSN. You can work as a licensed practical nurse (LPN) with your diploma. LPNs are efficient at providing task-based nursing care, which makes up a significant component of home healthcare. Home health nurses can choose to specialize in a variety of areas, including paediatrics, gerontology, mental health, and community/public health. The educational and special requirements for the places you wish to apply should be researched before you decide which degree you want to pursue. Find volunteer opportunities to make this step successful. Organizations provide volunteer opportunities for home visits, which can help aspiring nurses develop their interpersonal skills when dealing with clients in their homes. These possibilities not only assist prospective home health care nurses in developing their abilities, but they can also assist volunteers in deciding whether or not home health care is the correct job for them.

Step 2. Acquire nursing licensure

Right after graduating, you must pass the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN) or Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). To work as a nurse, you must be a licensed registered nurse (RN) and pass the NCLEX exam. Be sure to research your state’s home healthcare licensing requirements as all other requirements differ from state to state and depend on your speciality. To be successful in getting licensed, be sure to study for the exam. You should prepare for the exam. Before your test day, review the testing procedures and exam format. In addition, you should locate your test site in advance of the exam day. Testing organizations and colleges offer NCLEX-RN exam prep courses. Enrolling in one of these courses may improve a student’s chances of passing the exam.

Step 3.  Acquire experience

Before hiring you to work as a home health nurse, some employers will further demand that you have work experience. It can make you stand out as a candidate for a job as a home health nurse if you’ve previously worked in a hospital, nursing home, or clinic. Although it is not always necessary, working as a nurse in another setting before becoming a home health nurse can help you obtain insightful knowledge and abilities that you can use in your job.

Step 4: Advance in your career (optional)

There are prospects for career progression in home care nursing. A home care nurse has many options to develop in their profession if they have the necessary training and experience. An R.N. may be able to transition into a more enticing setting, like hospitals or community health settings. A home care nurse can also advance in their career by going into management or business, which may bring in greater compensation. Some home care nurses might also choose to pursue advanced practice registration, which would come with more duties like being allowed to administer prescriptions and providing direct patient care in both general and specialized settings.

 

Where to Work as a Home Care Nurse

Home care nurses typically work in a facility where they are assigned a patient and then they drive there to provide care. They are usually employed by insurance firms, hospice groups, retirement complexes, and home health services. Some home care nurses have offices in hospitals but their specialty is strictly home care services. Additionally, to help enhance access to care,  some governmental organizations also employ home care nurses to visit disabled patients in their homes.

 

Home Care Nurse Salary Scale

The average salary for Home Care Nurses varies depending on different factors such as educational level, certification, location, and years of experience. The average home care nurse’s salary in Canada is $78,546 per year. The salary range is usually from the minimum amount of  $57,545  to the maximum amount of $94,322 per year. In the US, the average annual salary for a Home Care Nurse is $86,863. In the UK, the average home care nurse’s salary is £34,197 per year. The entry-level positions start at £31,200 while experienced workers earn up to £41,989 per year.

In Germany, a Home Care Nurse typically earns around 31,440 EUR per year. The salary scale ranges from 14,520 EUR to 50,040 EUR. A Home care nurse’s average salary in Australia is $78,964 per year. Entry-level workers start at $70,093 per year, while senior workers earn up to $103,258 per year. Home Care Nurses in India earn salary amounts ranging from ₹ 0.2 Lakhs to ₹ 9.0 Lakhs, with an average salary of ₹ 2.7 Lakhs per year. In Nigeria, a Home Care Nurse typically earns around 3,012,000 NGN per year. The salary range starts at 1,536,000 NGN to 4,644,000 NGN.

Health and Safety

Tags: Home Care Nurse, Home Care Nurse Job Description, Home Care Nurse Qualifications, Home Care Nurse Salary, Home Care Nurse Skills, How to Become a Home Care Nurse, Job Description, Who is a Home Care Nurse