Admission Nurse

[anc33]

Anyone here work as an admission nurse in LTC? I was recently contacted about a position but wanted to get a little more info on the scope of the job. From what I have been told the position entails completing all of the admission paperwork as well as doing chart audits. I have been working med-surg and am interested in moving away from direct patient care. I am actually one of those people that loves paperwork and red tape! I would appreciate any insights.

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

You like paperwork?????? Yikes! An admission nurse has plenty of that, but certainly there is also patient contact. Our admission process, done right, takes about 30 minutes to interview and assess the resident. Then the paper work takes another 30 or so. The MD orders can take from 15 minutes to an hour depending on how complex the patient is.

[anc33]

You like paperwork?????? Yikes! An admission nurse has plenty of that, but certainly there is also patient contact. Our admission process, done right, takes about 30 minutes to interview and assess the resident. Then the paper work takes another 30 or so. The MD orders can take from 15 minutes to an hour depending on how complex the patient is.

How many admissions does one average in a day? It sounds like the process takes the same amount of time as it does in the hospital. How is the rest of your shift spent? Are you ever pulled to staff? Do you have any other administrative duties?

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

On our sub-acute unit we often have 3 or 4 admissions in one day. We don't have a specific admissions nurse(although it would be nice). The med nurses are expected to do the assessments and the charge nurse, or nurse manager does the MD orders. If they are swamped, then I go help (I'm the ADNS). It is very tough to have 4 admits in one day, but that's the way it is these days on a good subacute floor.

[robin_mds_nurse]

I do the admission process from start to finish. I do the pre-admission screening, list diagnosis for Health Information to code. If they are not in for some reason, I have to find the ICD-9 codes. I do a 6 page nursing assessment, plus the supplements that go with them, type up the physician's orders, print MARS, TX sheets, write a initial care plan. I do this on top of MDS/Raps/Care Plans, and all of the meetings we have. Some weeks we don't have any admissions, some weeks we may admit 6 or 7. It just depends. It would be my dream to have an admission nurse. But at least I get paid by the hour. ~Robin