Interviewing for case manager Job Today!!!

[RipeTomato]

I'm very excited to have this interview as this is the direction I want to go in.

I have one year of clinical experience in critical care. That's it. No home health, no case management. This is the first place that even called me after I submitted my resume.

If you were interviewing me for this job, what would you be looking for? How can I convince them that I would be right for the job even without the experience? What type of questions can I expect to be asked?

Thanks for any and all input!

[Kafergie]

I don't have any advice, but wondered how the interview went and what kind of questions they asked you. I am a school nurse thinking about making a job change before the next school year. I worked for years as a social worker before nursing school so I'm hoping that background at least gets me an interview in case management.

[RipeTomato]

Hi Kafergie,

The job I interviewed for was for case manager, hospice, so it was a little different than I had anticipated. From what I've read, case mangers in home health aren't in the field doing patient care (and the CMs at my hospital don't do patient care either), but my new job (got it!) as a case manager in hospice, will have me in the field and doing patient care, which is awesome because I didn't want to give up patient care entirely.

As far as the interview questions, they were all very different than I prepped for, of course! I was nervous, so forgot most of them, but they did ask for examples of how I have implemented ideas in the work place, handled difficult patients or families, mistakes I have made in the work place and how I fixed them. That sort of stuff. Good luck!

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

It sounds like you are more of Hospice Nurse then a Case Manager for Hospice. The Case Managers for Hospice that I know only coordinate intakes and discharges. They do not perform bedside nursing tasks like you may do. Therefore, I find it interesting that your employer not only managed to hire an inexperienced Hospice Nurse but also an inexperienced Nurse Case Manager when they choose to hire you. In addition, your employer openly combined the role of a Hospice Nurse with that of a Case Manager... My guess is that your employer is adding the responsibilities of a Case Manager to your position as a Hospice Nurse and hired an inexperienced Nurse (you) to do the job because there is no way they would have gotten away with it hiring an experienced nurse (experienced in both Hospice and Case Management).

Just a heads up, even though traditionally CMs do not provide clinical care to patients, our job is far from easy or stress free! Plus, I personally do not want to get paid to do the job of one nurse, but work the job of two. On the other hand, since this is what you think you want, know that we are here to help you with your Case Management knowledge while the Hospice Nurses on the other forum can help you with your Hospice knowledge. Again, good luck.

[QTNurseBSN]

I know a few agencies where I live that do both Home Health and Hospice. They hire "case managers" that are basically nurses managing their own caseload. Which breaks down to providing the admission, hands on home visits, referrals and discharge planning. So you are given the title of "CASE MANAGER" and it's definitely different than hospital or private sector case management.

Since you don't have hospice experience, I hope you were not hired because they just needed a body. Hospice nurses here see patients in the home and LTC facilities. Plus they take call and get called out during the night for several hours and are still expected to report to work the next morning.

Not trying to discourage you. Some nurses jump into case management, such as myself, and don't understand the whole picture. I have been in Case Management for about a year for a government agency and anytime Medicaid is involved (such as the same for Home Health and Hospice) there are A LOT of regulations and PAPERWORK!!! Yes, my hours are flexible and it's Monday-Friday, but it can be very stressful. Especially when there are quarterly reviews due and regulations with face to face visits.

Good luck with your new job. Sometimes I miss my days off during the week and my patient contact because I do jst sit in an office, do paperwork, talk on the phone..but it pays the bills and works for my family :-)

[paradiseboundRN]

The term "case manager" means different things depending on the organization or specialty. Where I've worked in Michigan, Hospice and Home Care Nurses who provide nursing care for patients and therefore carry a case load are called "case managers". There isn't an office job called case manager in Hospice/Homecare. There are intake Nurses and discharge planners, but they are not called case managers. Good Luck with hospice. I know many acute care nurses who transitioned easily into hospice. You are not doing 2 jobs.

[RipeTomato]

Thank you paradise! I'm excited to see what awaits me! :-)