In the Know
As home care agencies struggle to fill positions, it will be more challenging than ever to develop and maintain a team of top-notch HHAs. That’s where In the Know can help. With more than 140 topics, we’ve got an inservice that addresses nearly any issue that might arise for your home health aides.
Twenty years ago, when I worked at Duke University Medical Center, I remember clearly how some of my co-workers viewed their colleagues in home care. I was precepting a newly hired nurse to our oncology unit. A number of the “old timers” on the unit whispered to me, “Good luck training her! She doesn’t have any skills…she’s been working as a home health nurse!” The general consensus seemed to be that home care was the “red-headed stepchild” of the health care industry.
Things have definitely changed! Home care has now taken the lead as the fastest growing sector of the health care industry. Here are some statistics to prove it:
- According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the number of patients needing home care after hospitalization is up by a whopping 70 percent!
- The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 22 percent employment growth through 2018 for health care in general, but home health jobs are expected to increase by more than 46 percent.
Many of those job openings will be for home health aides. As home care agencies struggle to fill positions, it will be more challenging than ever to develop and maintain a team of top-notch HHAs. That’s where In the Know can help. With more than 140 topics, we’ve got an inservice that addresses nearly any issue that might arise for your home health aides. If you would like assistance in putting together either an orientation program for newly hired aides or a continuing education program, please give us a call.
Oh…and my colleagues at Duke were wrong. That former home health nurse did just fine on the unit! And, a couple of years later, I moved on from the hospital to work in home care myself.
Congratulations to home health for finally being recognized in the media as such an important part of our health care system. And, a big thank you to all you home health nurses and aides out there for the vital work you do!
