What does a home health nurse do?
A home health nurse is responsible for assisting patients usually in their households, strictly monitoring their health conditions and treatment plans for fast recovery. Home health nurses work with the patients' attending physicians and other health professionals to develop healthcare plans and administer timely medications. They update the patient's chart regularly, record temperature and vital signs, manage food intake, and respond to the patients' inquiries and requests. A home health nurse must have strong organizational and time-management skills to perform various nursing duties under certain conditions.
Home health nurse responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real home health nurse resumes:
- Manage an Alzheimer patient daily care including bathing, feeding and administer any medication.
- Instruct patients and relatives regarding techniques used in managing vascular access devices aim at facilitating client independence.
- Field NurseProvide care for patients discharge from hospital, skil care facility rehabilitation facility and referral from physician's office.
- Administer IM meds such as monthly B12
- Maintain and assess patient for daily MDS.
- Care of ventilator and TPN in home private duty
- Expect to meet certain state certifications, and be CPR certify.
- Know the importance of keeping up to date with any changes in Medicaid regulations and criteria requirements.
- Assist with activity of daily living and administer all order medications and treatments as ordered by Dr.
- Assemble and use equipment, such as catheters, feeding pump, nebulizer machine or oxygen suppliers.
- Maintain supportive documentation within the MDS system to assure quality care are given and reimbursement are maintained.
- Show exceptional ability in the insertion and care of peripheral, midline & PICC catheters and accessing ports.
- Provide PICC line care, maintaince, and drug (or IVF) administration base on MD orders.
- Earn trust of couple through genuine respect, compassion and skill level require to take care of their needs.
- Assist and educate patients in their homes post-surgery and post new feeding tubes, new catheters and diabetes management.
Home health nurse skills and personality traits
We calculated that 31% of Home Health Nurses are proficient in Home Health, Patients, and Quality Care. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Home Health Nurses that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Home Health, 31%
Monitored the appropriate completion of documentation by home health aides/personal care workers as part of the supervisory/leadership responsibility.
- Patients, 20%
Instructed patients and relatives regarding techniques used in managing vascular access devices aimed at facilitating client independence.
- Quality Care, 5%
Review clinical records on an ongoing basis to ensure compliance with eligibility requirements and maintenance of quality care and documentation standards.
- Rehabilitation, 4%
Field NurseProvide care for patients discharge from hospital, skilled care facility rehabilitation facility and referral from physician's office.
- Physician Orders, 4%
Computerized charting and collaborating with other members of the interdisciplinary team as well as receive and implement physician orders.
- Infection Control, 3%
Administered and documented prescribed medication, adhering to universal precautions and aseptic technique and infection control guidelines.
"home health," "patients," and "quality care" are among the most common skills that home health nurses use at work. You can find even more home health nurse responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a home health nurse to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "registered nurses must be able to communicate effectively with patients in order to understand their concerns and evaluate their health conditions." Home health nurses often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "care includes medication administration, assessments, treatments, communication with physicians and dme suppliers as well as other nursing staff. "
Compassion. Many home health nurse duties rely on compassion. "registered nurses should be caring and empathetic when working with patients.," so a home health nurse will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways home health nurse responsibilities rely on compassion: "provide quality compassionate home health care to patients. "
Detail oriented. home health nurses are also known for detail oriented, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to home health nurse responsibilities, because "registered nurses must be precise because they must ensure that patients get the correct treatments and medicines at the right time." A home health nurse resume example shows how detail oriented is used in the workplace: "detailed assessment, critical thinking, medication administration, trach and peg care. "
Emotional stability. For certain home health nurse responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "emotional stability." The day-to-day duties of a home health nurse rely on this skill, as "registered nurses need emotional resilience and the ability to cope with human suffering, emergencies, and other stressors." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what home health nurses do: "coordinated end-of-life care including symptom and medication management, deescalating emotional stressors, and tending to family dynamics and related concerns. "
Organizational skills. Another common skill required for home health nurse responsibilities is "organizational skills." This skill comes up in the duties of home health nurses all the time, as "nurses often work with multiple patients who have a variety of health needs." An excerpt from a real home health nurse resume shows how this skill is central to what a home health nurse does: "implement adl s, utilize effective time management, organizational and communication skills to manage daily activities. "
Physical stamina. While "physical stamina" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to home health nurse responsibilities. Much of what a home health nurse does relies on this skill, seeing as "nurses should be comfortable performing physical tasks, such as lifting patients." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of home health nurses: "provided physical therapy, medication administration, pain management therapies and respiratory therapies appropriate to age. "
The three companies that hire the most home health nurses are:
- MedPro Healthcare Staffing334 home health nurses jobs
- Residential Home Health305 home health nurses jobs
- Trusted Health Plans280 home health nurses jobs
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Compare different home health nurses
Home health nurse vs. Nurse educator
A nurse educator is responsible for teaching aspiring professional nurses, designing courses according to the curriculum, and organizing activities to practice and enhance the students' knowledge. Nurse educators manage clinical activities and observe the students' performance in actual training. They must have excellent knowledge of the medical industry, as well as its practices, to respond to the students' inquiries and concerns accurately. A nurse educator identifies the students' strengths and weaknesses, develop comprehensive lesson plans, and strategizing various nursing programs.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between home health nurses and nurse educator. For instance, home health nurse responsibilities require skills such as "quality care," "physician orders," "health aides," and "discharge planning." Whereas a nurse educator is skilled in "bls," "bsn," "professional development," and "cpr." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Nurse educators tend to make the most money working in the pharmaceutical industry, where they earn an average salary of $94,493. In contrast, home health nurses make the biggest average salary, $70,685, in the health care industry.nurse educators tend to reach higher levels of education than home health nurses. In fact, nurse educators are 15.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Home health nurse vs. Nurse extern
The job of a nurse extern is to assist the mentor nurse in their nursing duties. They help the mentor nurse in various medical procedures such as administering medications or starting intravenous therapies. They provide or help with personal patient care, including changing bed linens, oral hygiene, and bathing. Nurse externships typically have different requirements that include having finished nursing school, completing a clinical nursing course before the training, and being registered in a nursing program.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real home health nurse resumes. While home health nurse responsibilities can utilize skills like "home health," "quality care," "rehabilitation," and "physician orders," nurse externs use skills like "cpr," "direct supervision," "medical-surgical," and "patient safety."
On average, nurse externs earn a lower salary than home health nurses. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, nurse externs earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $39,085. Whereas home health nurses have higher pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $70,685.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Nurse externs tend to reach similar levels of education than home health nurses. In fact, they're 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for home health nurses in the next 3-5 years?
Lisa Rebeschi Ph.D.
Associate Dean of the School of Nursing Professor of Nursing, Quinnipiac University
Home health nurse vs. Registered nurse med/surg
The job of registered medical-surgical nurses is to care for patients with either surgical or non-surgical conditions. They are responsible for aiding patients to cope with their illness, prevent diseases, and promote good health. Entry-level registered nurses often rely on standardized care plans and medical procedures and make scientific-based nursing judgments. On the other hand, intermediate level nurses are more skilled in developing care plans that meet client needs. Requirements to become a medical-surgical nurse include a college degree in nursing, excellent assessment and observation skills, and patient education skills.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, home health nurses are more likely to have skills like "quality care," "health aides," "patient assessment," and "palliative care." But a registered nurse med/surg is more likely to have skills like "bls," "acute care," "acls," and "telemetry."
Registered nurse med/surgs earn the highest salary when working in the health care industry, where they receive an average salary of $74,800. Comparatively, home health nurses have the highest earning potential in the health care industry, with an average salary of $70,685.Most registered nurse med/surgs achieve a similar degree level compared to home health nurses. For example, they're 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Home health nurse vs. Operating room nurse
An Operating Room Nurse assists surgeons during operations and keeps the operating room sterile at all times. They ensure that patients are ready for transport to the recovery room.
Types of home health nurse
Updated January 8, 2025
