Hi, my name is Kayla. I am one of Envisions nurses. I have been doing home health for about a year now. I love it! It is a much different pace than my previous nursing position as an ER nurse. With that being said, I really love to build relationships with my patients and really make a difference in their lives. So watch this video to learn more about what it is like to be a home health nurse!

What is a typical day like for a Home Health nurse?
I see 3-7 patients and the visit will range from 35 minutes to an hour depending on what skilled need they have. I see patients for a variety of different skilled interventions, whether it be education related to a new disease process, medication set up, wound care, catheter changes. Once I am finished for my visits for the day I will head back to the office, chart and call my patients to schedule their appointments for the following day.

What is something that you love about nursing that you didn’t expect to?
That’s a funny question, specifically with Home Health Nursing considering that most of our patients are seniors. When I first graduated nursing school, I was pretty young and I was afraid that I would feel a disconnect with the senior – I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to connect with them or talk to them on a personal level but since starting this job I have learned that it is completely untrue. I have been able to form so many close relationships with my patients and hear their stories as well as bits of advice that they give me. I did not expect to be able to form such close relationships with my patients due to the age gap but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they are still spunky, young people inside! It’s a lot of fun to bring that out of them, especially when they are in bad health. I really love being able to find out who my patient is inside other than calling them by their current healthcare problem or status. This position really lets me dive deep into not only treating my patient clinically, but also holistically and emotionally by giving them the support that they need.

What do you want your clients to remember you for?
I want my patients to always know me as a nurse that had the greatest attitude and was always happy and brought a smile to their face when I come into their home. Some of my patients get home from such a hard time whether it be inpatient or in the hospital or a rehab and they have a lot of staff that they work with when they are inpatient – a lot of different nurses and techs, so I love to be that fresh face of affirmation for them that things will get better and we are going to be there for them every step of the way. I really love when I walk out of a patients home knowing that I brightened their day.