hospice cna

specialist

Horizon Home Care & Hospice

I worked here as a RN Case Manager for a little over 5 months, and all I can say is I absolutely hated my life and job. It was honestly the worst 5 months of my life and time as a nurse, so much so i was very close to stepping away from nursing all together. Let's just say there is a reason that they are offering such high sign-on bonuses. 

Like most home care agencies you are paid by the visit. You are required to have a certain number a visits a week, however are frequently told you must take more. If you refuse you begin to get an attitude from those in the office and given the worst assignments all over the city. 

The money they pay you for gas and travel is mediocre and does not cover the cost. I drove a gas efficient stick shift car, and I still didn't come close to breaking even. (They don't pay you for your first 20 miles or your last 20 miles, they also pay you well under federal mileage reimbursement, the charting system,which is used to calculate miles, does not take into account the actual order of your visits, rather the shortest distance between points) In other words, the computer determines the shortest distance between all of your visits and subtracts 40 miles, no matter the real order you saw the patients.  

Management has a real cult feel. They push billing and numbers, which is understandable, seeing as they are a business. However, the way they go about it makes you feel like part of a cult. (not the most clear way to describe it, but sit through one of the all staff meeting and you will see what I mean). Not to mention, lower management is constantly changing due to turn over. (There is definitely a reason for this)

So that brings me to the hardest part of the job, The hardest part of the job for me was seeing the patients struggling and not getting the care they needed. I would frequently walk into a house and listen to a patient tell me how much they hated Horizon. They would tell me that other staff come in and did not address their needs. I also saw many workers loading up on patient cases, in such a way that there is no way they could provide quality care to all of the patients. This lead to frequent hospitalizations and ER visits among patients. 

The most enjoyable part of my job was honestly putting in my two weeks. This place has terrible work life balance and I was frequently charting into all hours of the night. 

A word of advise if you don't believe me, Go for an interview, take the job, and decline the sign on bonus. The sign on bonus is Horizon's ply to get you to stay. They offer you half up front and half after 6 months, however if you don't stay two years you much pay it all back. 

Good luck and take my warning as you will.

I can honestly say this is one of the worst jobs I have ever had. The work culture is insulting. There is a new program manager (PM) and everyone is resigning -including care managers and nurses because of the inexperienced, insulting and demeaning PM and other leadership as well .  The PM does not know how to do her job effectively or even lead. She sends threatening emails and her tone and language in the emails are rude. People are scared to speak up due to desiring job security. There has been atleast 3 care managers, 2 nurses quit under the PM leadership within Four months!!! (That should say enough). And HR does nothing. The work load is high. Policies change every other day. You will not receive any support. The do not recognize good work performance. They merely say “good job” in an email. At times, they do not even want to say that. No type of recognition, assurance, reward. There are no team building exercises that are inclusive to all. The company just do not care about its employees. One time leadership honestly told family Care -“if we don’t like It here, to get another job” in an email- and shortly after that people were resigning from left to right!!!!! How insensitive and rude! And they wonder why they can’t keep anyone ! The pay is insulting. You have to use your ppl for holidays so technically you really only receive about 8 days of PTO. This is ridiculous. If you bring a topic to leadership attention, you will be retaliated against unfairly. They will begin to email you and pick on you. They lure you in with a sign on bonus but most of every one who have left do not stay until they receive the sign on bonuses. Please do not work here. Family Care Department  is not culture friendly as well. It’s sickening. If I could give negative stars I would. 

Typical workday for a field employee like a case manager for hospice is seeing 3-6 scheduled visits, calling doctors offices for medication refills or orders, scheduling visits with patients, admissions and charting, many times well past working hours. I learned a lot about hospice and the benefits it can provide patients and families, I truly believe that Horizon does quite a bit for their patients that other companies do not. Unfortunately, the workplace culture is very clicky and they do play favorites. While they provide a lot for the patients, they don't really take care of their employees, the insurance is awful and expensive, case loads and territories expected to go to that are discussed in interviews are not accurate, managment is unprofessional at times and be prepared to put an obnoxious amount of miles on your vehicle. I really did enjoy working with the hospice patients and my immediate peers were great, the hardest part was the death visits where families were very emotional as I am extremely empathetic and feel what others feel. 

I applied for FT hours. I was promised FT hours. I never received FT hours. Ever. Your average hours worked per day is about 5.5-6hrs. If you’re lucky. Your schedule changes by the minute. Nothing’s stable. HHA’s = BATH-AID. That’s it. You’re in 4-6pts houses a day. Less than an hour. Only to give a bath. They don’t tell you in the interview that your main position is JUST a bath aid. The work is so impersonal. So rushed. LOTS OF MILES ON YOUR CAR. I put 500+ miles on my car within a week and a half. You only get paid a mileage check ONCE a month. The company tries to sucker you in by offering you a $2,000 bonus. But with all the hours and money you’re losing daily, it’s not even worth it. By far the messiest & unorganized company I have ever worked for. I’ve been a CNA for 5 yrs  Lack of communication in every department. Unpredictable work schedule. No stability whatsoever. Pt homes have bedbugs and company makes you work in those conditions. Awful company & culture!!
If you’re looking for stability, full time hours and respect - This is not the job for you!

Take my advice.. find other employment!

What is the best part of working at the company?
The professional support and training available was outstanding. Leadership was quick to respond to concerns or offer assistance. Horizon is home based nursing and the day is spent in the community working with patients and fellow team members so having easy accesss to supports was a godsend when challenges arose. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The patient load was bearable but challenging. As a home care agency you might be sent to any area of the city or suburbs and experience community related threats in higher crime locales. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment is community based so it can anything at anytime! The culture is great, supportive but also distant.. there are sometimes few oppurtunities for regular interactions with peers.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Drive around for 8 hours seeing patients. perform wound cares and document patient needs.

I was miserable working there as a RN case manager.  Pay and benefits suck.  Manager is not in tune with what is going on and doesn't act like he cares about his employees.  Difficult to find a work/life balance as you get calls during the night and on your days off.  You are not always provided with the right resources which makes it difficult to do your job.  There were defiantly weeks where I worked more than 40 hrs a week but didn't receive any type of overtime because you are paid a per visit rate.  They force you to see patients at times when you are even over your visit count that needs to be met for the week because they don't want to turn away business.  It's very frustrating when they force you to see more patients which causes you to work more than 40 hrs in a week, yet they don't provide you with overtime compensation.  Sounds a little illegal to me.  They care more about money then their employees.  I would not recommend working for this company.  I am so much happier after leaving.

A typical day as an home health aide at horizon. Would be sitting in the office because their is not any work available. During your interview you are promise full time hours . But only way to receive full fte is sitting hours in the office because the schedulers  give their friends all the hours. All the schedulers were once home health aides and work with Horizon for many years. I have not learned anything from them. Management is very rude , not caring, and talks badly about home health aides. Your child can be sick and the first thing they say is they are writing you up for a refusal.The hardest part of my job is to constantly letting the managers talk so rude while i remain humble. The most enjoyable part of the job is when I can provide care for clients.

Not a very good company to work for. If a worker is favored by some of the supervisors, work assignments are much lighter, otherwise, a days work is made to be stressful and not very enjoyable. Extra assignments will be assigned to the worker even though they were not caught up with their primary daily work. Co-workers were good to work and communicate with. The hardest part of being employed there was not being treated fairly as other workers by the supervisor. The most enjoyable part of my job was to be left alone to do my work as effectively as I knew how, to be able to concentrate on what I was doing, and go home feeling that I had a productive day.

I was a temp scheduler for one month at Horizon and it was a great position that will make you feel like your apart of a great team. However there  are some staff supervisors that are putting way too much of a demand on one person at a time which creates a very stressful work environment. Also this company does not treat temp staff with the most respect which is not a pleasant experience. I also noticed there is way too much clicky behavior ( people will outcast new workers because they don't know them ) and it was very annoying that so many had so much to say behind your back while so many more important issues should be addressed.

There is great team spirit and tremendous support from management. The new Program Manager has brought in fresh ideas and really cares about her team.  The culture in the Family Care unit is caring and my position is mentally stimulating.  Each day brings a variety of challenges but in the end I feel satisfied knowing I have enriched someone's life.  The office atmosphere is welcoming. And, the work/life balance is wonderful.  I finally feel that I am a part of something special and I really enjoy working for the Family Care team.  Horizon as a whole is a great non-profit to work for. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Hospice cna 2 salaries reported	$16.25 per hour
Specialist 1 salary reported	$14.50 per hour

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