5 Reasons You Should Make A Career Change To Home Healthcare

Whether you’re changing your profession entirely or moving to a new area within your field, it can be difficult to know if you’re making the right choice when it comes time to make a career change. Jotting down a list of pros and cons can be helpful, but sometimes you need to hear from a real person who has taken the leap themselves.
 

We sat down with Interim’s Nurse of the Year, Bernestine Griddine, to hear how she got her start in the home healthcare field–and why she hasn’t looked back.
 

Meet Bernestine Griddine, Interim Healthcare’s Nurse of the Year

Bernestine has been a nurse for 39 years and she’s worked in home healthcare for 27 of those years. She began her career in the hospital setting, where she worked as a float nurse. She then moved to the emergency room, where she enjoyed the fast-paced environment. After giving birth to her third child, Bernestine switched to home healthcare, and she immediately fell in love with her new career.
 

5 Reasons Bernestine Believes Nurses Should Make The Switch To Home Healthcare

Reason #1: You’ll Learn The True Meaning of Work/Life Balance

When Bernestine switched to home healthcare after the birth of her child, she was looking for a way to spend more time with her family. The autonomy she experienced in home healthcare was the number one reason she has stayed all these years.
 

“Home healthcare has allowed me to be a full-time nurse and a full-time parent. I can make my own schedule, and the pay is also great,” says Bernestine.
 

Bernestine knows plenty of nurses who have retired in this field, and she plans to do the same.
 

Reason #2: Home Health Nurses Are Less Likely To Burn Out

If you’ve ever thought nursing burnout is “just part of the job,” think again. Even though Bernestine hasn’t worked in a hospital setting in over 27 years, burnout was just as normal back then as it is today.
 

“I don’t see home healthcare nurses getting burned out like many hospital nurses do. When working in home healthcare, we’re able to administer care without being overloaded with patients. The stress is also much lower than what I felt when I worked in the hospital,” Bernestine says.
 

Bernestine also pointed out that working in home healthcare allows her to spend more one-on-one time with patients.
 

“I never have to worry about whether I can fully care for each patient,” she said. “That’s truly a good feeling.”
 

Reason #3: Home Healthcare Nurses Are Exposed To Multiple Specialties

Some nurses think that working in home healthcare will cause them to become rusty on skills they worked so hard to learn and perfect. Bernestine says you can rest easy–you will learn more than you ever thought possible in this field, and will continue to grow your skills across multiple disease processes and procedures.
 

“The very nature of what we do allows us never to be stuck in one specialty. As a home health nurse, I have learned how to perform multiple procedures that I would never have performed in the ER. We are able to do pretty much anything in the home, except administer blood,” said Bernestine.
 

Reason #4: Home Healthcare Nurses Create Deeper Relationships With Patients

You became a nurse because you wanted to connect with people at the most vulnerable times in their lives. Sound familiar? According to Bernestine, home healthcare nursing allows you to enjoy those connections daily.
 

“Because you don’t have to feel rushed or stressed about completing everything for the patient in a certain amount of time, you truly get to form a short-term (sometimes long-term) relationship with your patients and their family,” Bernestine said. “These relationships make an already rewarding job even more special.”
 

Reason #5: Home Health Professionals Enjoy Collaborating With Other Specialities

When you work in home healthcare, you’re not stuck working with the same people in the same unit all the time. Bernestine really enjoys this aspect of the job.

“The collaboration I experience while working with so many different doctors and people at multiple healthcare facilities is awesome,” she said. “Being part of a wide network allows for new experiences and methodologies to which you may not have been exposed before.”
 

Take The Leap–You Won’t Regret It.

Bernestine says a nursing career in home healthcare is a great option regardless of how much experience you have in the nursing field.

“I would tell any young nurse, especially if they have done at least a year in the hospital on the med/surg floor, to definitely try home healthcare. Had I known what I know now, I would have started in this field much sooner.”

Are you considering making the switch to home healthcare? We’re ready to welcome you to the Interim family. We’re hiring for a variety of positions.

Click here to check out our list of job openings near you!