[tex]

Would like to obtain different views & opinions. I am MDS coordinator of a 122 bed facility w/pps medicare residents also. Have been in this position for 1 year. any advice would be greatly appreciated. e.g. care plans/time? raps/triggers's *time to do them? Thanks Tex

[CoachCathy]

At our building, we only schedule care plans on Tuesdays and Thursdays (we have a max census of 165 and are currently running at 140 or so). This gives you three full days to get assessments, etc. done without having to worry about breaking your train of thought to meet with a family. I do back-up MDS at our facility, and it takes me longer to do the paperwork than it does the full time person. We use a calendar to mark all the assessments in - one of those "Week at a glance" calendars with each day divided into three parts - Assessments, RAPS, and Care plans. Obviously, nothing is under the Care Plan section on M,W, F. That way, you can kind of look at your week and send your RAPS one way or the other (keeping in mind your window) . If you have a lot of admissions, it may help to see if you can get an RN trained to also do MDS, so she could possibly help out during the weeks that it gets hairy (like the week after you get seven admits!!) I see that you're from NC, me too! There're alot of great inservices available in Chapel Hill and Wilmington that can help!

[tex]

what are the names of the inservices in wilmington or chapel hill? thanks tex

[CoachCathy]

Get with AHEC in Wilmington (They are affiliated with NHRMC), they do quite a bit of training in various lines of nursing. When I hear of another class, I'll email you...

[tex]

thank you tex

[Fran-RN]

I am a MDS coord from Indiana. I am not currently working as a coordinator but it is my favorite nursing job. I am working nights on weekends so I can watch my new grandbaby for my daughter.
I have done MDS for 5 years before taking this job. PPS really increased the work load. In Indiana, our medicaid payment also depends on MDS, does it in North Carolina?

[tex]

Not as of yet. What about MDS did you like? compared to what you are doing now> I have done mds for around 13 months now, we do PPS on medicare residents. we use to have a coordinator for 5 yrs, but she has quit to go work at a hospital setting. I am continuely learning things daily, q time I open the manuel or take time to review how I am checking off answers it is diffirent, which does concern me at times. Our facility is 122 bed with a census of around 90 this includes our long term residents. What pearls of wisdom can you share? Tell me how you approached your raps, timing also and your care planning.................thanks tex

[Tziyona]

I am MDS coordinator moved from Az to Mn in last 9 months. The fed stuff is consistent but this state has some strange ideas re careplans, whats acceptable. I'm looking for a site that does a nice job of explaining quality indicators to those with no or little knowledge.

[Fran-RN]

hi, Tex, I liked the MDS job because, I am a puzzle freak and it's like a giant puzzle with all these little pieces of info about the resident that when put together hopefully gives you a clear picture of them. also I got to do lots of different things. educations, assessment , careplanning etc, interaction with the families and residents. I had a very wonderful administrator who believed the whole staff should be educated on MDS. We had pets at our facility and I did an inservice where I did a mini MDS on our dog., I gave them the information of snacks, doctor visits , adl function , etc. but I kept the important info of he has 4 legs to myself. The staff loved it. It was simple but they came away with a better understanding of the mds process.

[Fran-RN]

tziyona, when you are submitting your mds to hcfa ( changed their name but can't remember it) they have a Quality Indicator manual you can download. It is pretty straight forward. It explains what the QIs are, what triggers them, etc.