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What Does a Home Health Nurse Do?

Home health nurses serve patients in their homes, rather than in a clinic or hospital setting. Their patients may need rehabilitation from an accident, palliative care for a chronic illness, or help with medications, IVs, or other minor medical procedures.

Home health nurses are often employed by health care agencies. The job duties can be as varied as the patients you treat, ranging from monitoring patients, administering medication, or helping with dietary and hygiene needs. A home health nurse may also help train patients to become more independent and learn to meet their own health care needs.

Education & Training Required to Become a Home Health Nurse

Home health nurses have a range of educational backgrounds and certifications, and may be registered nurses, licensed practical nurses (LPN), or certified nurses' aids (CNA). To prepare you for a career in home health nursing, degree programs focus on basic nursing skills as well as specific skills critical to home health nursing such as wound care, home medical equipment, nutritional therapy, and mental health counseling.

CNAs and LPNs may be responsible for daily care tasks, while RNs--who typically hold bachelor's degrees--may be involved in higher-level duties such as administration or helping to develop care plans. Online degree programs or continuing education classes can help home health nurses keep up-to-date with medical advances and regulatory changes.

Typical Characteristics of a Home Health Nurse

Home health nurses often choose this specialization out of an interest in rehabilitation, psychology, and gerontology. Floor nurses that are drawn to a home-bound population may return to college to complete online career training courses to qualify for work among the infirm, elderly, rehabilitative, or child populations.

Nurses in a home health setting can often play many roles, from primary caregiver to facility administrator. Like nurses in other specialties, home health nurses are compassionate, detail-oriented, and responsible.

High Demand for Home Health Nurses

Nurses make up the single-largest occupation in the health care field, and the demand in specialized nursing shows no signs of slowing. Efforts to curb the growing cost of health care likely mean patients will experience shorter hospital stays and get more in-home care than in previous decades, making home health nurses an increasingly important nursing speciality. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that jobs in home health care nursing should grow by 33 percent during the 2008-2018 decade.

The median annual wage for registered nurses is $62,450, while licensed practical nurses earned $39,030 in 2008.