Pros
As a nurse I really value a strong nurse patient relationship, and because I consistently work with several clients I can achieve this. As a result I am well equipped to provide optimal care and advocacy for my patients. Great fit for nurses that don't connect with the hospital experience, such as myself. I find floor nursing impersonal, and the patient nurse ratios often make it difficult to provide the highest quality of care possible. With NCC I have one acute, often fragile patient at a time that I am able to care for holistically. The scheduling is very flexible, you can tell they do their best to fit you with the right families and provide you with a schedule pattern you want. Excellent hands on experience with technical nursing skills such as catheterization, g-tubes, tracheostomies, cough assist machenies, ventilators, suctioning, etc. They pay you to attend excellent training classes for these things as well. They have both adult and pediatric clients, and will take your preference into account when matching you with patients. You keep fragile kids and adults out of the ICU where; they are potentially exposed to superbugs, the cost is rediculous, the care is often subpar, and let's be real--what kid wants to live in a hospital?
Cons
It's very independent, which is a pro to some and con to others. You mostly only see your coworkers at shift change for report. I like working as a team and often miss the coworker interaction. It is rare that you get to work overtime or holidays, the company avoids paying time and a half as much as possible. We need more home care nurses! There are often 20+ kids at Children's waiting to go home, but there aren't enough nurses to care for them, so they are stuck in the hospital for months unnecessarily. It can also make coverage tricky at times. The pay is just okay. We lose nurses because it's not a very competitive rate compared to hospital pay.