Kaplan Program and case management with no hospital experience

nelcoy4 · Jun 24, 2005

I'm in the Kaplan program and also applying to case management jobs. Now that I'm locked in this program I see that I don't really need it. A lot of jobs train you, but it looks good on your resume.

Trauma Columnist · Jun 24, 2005

I'm a case manager in a large hospital (37 RN case managers and 7 social workers). For positions in our hospital, you have to have at least 5 years clinical hospital experience and a bachelors degree (doesn't have to be in nursing though). Personally, I think you might have a difficult time without quite a bit of clinical experience because you are expected to know the standard of care for the population you case manage. However, there are other areas of case management too: utilization review, worker's comp, insurance and perhaps they don't require hospital experience? Maybe that would be the route to go?

Kateswedlund · Jul 16, 2005

[Hi Krissy- I'm taking an online course now with Canyon College. You can google it on the web. Basically, they tell you which books to buy and you take the tests then give you a certificate of completion. There is no guided education other than that, but if you're a self-starter you should do O.K.

QUOTE=krisssy]I am an RN with a BS degree from 1969. I worked as a school nurse teacher for two years, and then I became an elementary school teacher for the next 30 years. I retired from teaching, and I took a 6 week refresher course in nursing. Considering, I did quite well. I am now thinking of taking the Kaplan online course in case management.

My questions are:

1. Does anyone know anything about the Kaplan online course? If not, has anyone had experience with online case management courses?

2. Do you think an inexperienced RN would be successful in case management? Do you think I could get a job after taking the course even though my only hospital experience has been in college and in the refresher course?

Thank you for helping make this decision.