How Much Does a Home Healthcare Nurse Get Paid?
Hiring a home health care nurse allows a person recovering from an injury or illness or needing assistance due to a chronic disability to stay in his own home while receiving care. The salary that a home health care nurse is paid depends on her qualifications. Nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses and registered nurses all work in home health care and make varying average salaries.
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Job Features
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Home health care nurses provide direct care to patients. Nursing assistants and licensed practical nurses may serve meals and assist patients with eating, and help them with bathing and getting dressed. All these workers check the patient's vital signs, such as blood pressure and pulse rate, and provide treatments such as applying compresses, changing non-sterile dressings, giving alcohol rubs and performing enemas. Some nursing assistants are live-in caregivers. Licensed practical nurses and registered nurses administer oral medications and injections. Registered nurses also develop care plans for each patient.
Nursing Assistants
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Most nursing assistants--more than 1 million--work in nursing facilities and hospitals, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A total of 42,920 nursing assistants worked in home health care in 2009, and this generally is the lowest-paying option for these workers, at an average of $11.09 per hour, or $23,070 per year, as of 2009. In contrast, those working in nursing care facilities were making an average hourly rate of $11.58, and those in general medical and surgical hospitals $12.76.
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Practical Nurses
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Like nursing assistants, most licensed practical nurses work in nursing care facilities and hospitals, and a large number also work in doctors' offices. While about 460,400 worked in these places of employment in 2009, about 64,250 practical nurses worked in home health care, earning $20.33 per hour on average, or $42,300 per year. This was higher than the average pay for these nurses at doctors' offices, at $17.68 per hour, and at general medical and surgical hospitals at $19.22 per hour. Practical nurses employed at nursing homes earn almost exactly the same amount on average, at $20.34 per hour.
Registered Nurses
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A large majority of registered nurses work in hospitals--nearly 1.5 million in 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. About 352,000 work in doctors' offices and nursing care facilities, and another 134,420 in home health. The pay rate for registered nurses in home health care is $30.43 per hour, or $63,300 per year, higher than those working in nursing facilities at $28.52 per hour but lower than the pay rate at doctors offices at $32.35 per hour and hospitals at $32.57.
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References
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Nursing and Psychiatric Aides
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Nursing Aides, Orderlies, and Attendants Occupational Employment and Wages
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses Occupational Employment and Wages
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Registered Nurses
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Registered Nurses Occupational Employment and Wages
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