Advise for Nightshift L&D RN looking to transition to Case Management

[CEvnz1]

Hello AllNurses,

I am a L&D RN who works night shift but am currently looking into other avenues and options in nursing, as night shift is starting to take its toll physically, and the overall atmosphere at the work place is becoming pretty toxic emotionally. I have seen a lot of positive feedback for RN Case managers. Although thus far I am intrigued by all the positive feedback such as good work life balance (No weekends/holidays), good benefits, a lot of companies offering telecommute/work at home options...I am still nervous about the transition ~ Transitioning from working 3-12hr shifts vs. 5 days a week, financially will this move be a huge pay cut especially loosing Nightshift differential, etc.

Any feedback/advise as to getting into Case management would be greatly appreciated, as the majority of my nursing experience has been inpatient at the bedside.

1- Especially would like input from those of you who may have previously transitioned from Nightshift into "regular people's hours."

2- Recommendations on how to make resume more appealing to reflect indirect experience with case management although have never formerly worked in role

3- Insight pay/benefits...curious will transition be financially worth the switch

Thanks in advance for your insight!

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

I make about 50% more now than I ever did working bedside. I worked rotating days/nights when I worked in the hospital. I never thought I wanted a Mon-Fri job but now that I've had one for 6 years, I can't imagine ever going back to nights/weekends/holidays, etc. The last 2 times I changed jobs, I only applied to Mon-Fri jobs.

[CEvnz1]

Thanks so much for your feedback! Hope to be posting soon about transitioning into new role!

[CommunityOB]

I have gone back and forth between case management and too. On your resume make sure you emphasize your ability to multitask, educate, and care for patients' emotional and social needs. If you have time, talk to the unit social worker and ask them about some of the resources available in your area and how they do referrals. Since you already have a few years of L&D, see if there are case management positions open in L&D units. Additionally, there are frequent community health positions open for nurses to work with pregnant patients in communities. Sometimes OB clinics or public health departments hire a nurse educator/case manager/coordinator.

As far as transitioning into "regular people hours," its nice to be back on a regular schedule. I do miss having the days off, but I too worked nights and never felt like i was fully rested or really able to do much. Also, when i switched to clinic/case management, my benefits were better, and I could get close to, if not more than my base hourly salary. Good Luck! I love outpatient nursing and case management.

[terfernay]

I used to work night shifts as a mom baby nurse and now work as a public health nurse doing family home visiting with pregnant women and families who have young children. We do a lot of case management but also a lot of health education and assessments etc. I feel like it's a good mix and was a perfect fit for me since I really wanted to continue to work with women and babies. It has been very eye opening to see how patients live their everyday lives when they go home from the hospital which can give you great insight vs working at the bedside and you have the ability to build long term relationships and trust with these clients which is nice. So you may want to consider family home visiting if you still want to work specifically with moms and babies and work one and one with clients :) Anyway I love the hours. I feel like I can be on a regular sleep schedule and am more rested. The work life balance is better. When I worked three 12s I felt like all I did was sleep, work, eat, repeat and then had to catch up on everything on my days off. I do miss having four days off a week sometimes but with this job I can set my schedule and it's so flexible so if I need to take a couple hours off during the day to go to an appt or run an errand I can and then can work a couple hours extra sometime later in the week or if I'm over my hours for the week and can get my charting done fast I can leave early one day. We also have the ability to chart from home which is nice to have that flexibility. As far as your resume goes I think highlighting your communication skills, ability to work collaboratively with other interdisciplinary providers, your advocacy skills when working with patients, time management, ability to work autonomously, etc. Good luck on your new job search!

[terfernay]

And I forgot to mention pay! I did take a little bit of a pay cut and then am salaried so obviously don't get paid if I work over my hours which sucks but if I can get things done in a timely manner I can work under my hours and still get paid the same which is a plus. I think this is where self discipline comes in. I see a lot of my coworkers consistently working over their hours and not getting paid for it. I refuse to work over my FTE unless I have a particularly busy week. I work hard to get my charting done in a timely manner which it can be easy to put it off and procrastinate since unlike bedside nursing you don't have to have all your charting done for a day before you go home. And then it's good to have boundaries. Once you've worked your FTE then just go home. It's tempting to try to stay late to catch up but it will all still be there Monday morning. Anyway back to pay. I took a pay cut but feel like it was worth it for the work life balance and quality of life. I still make a decent wage to be able to live off of and it's nice having holidays and weekends and evenings off. Plus I don't know about your particular L&D unit but we got put on call a decent amount of times at my hospital if patient census was low so I wasn't always getting my full paycheck. This is nice where I know I'll be getting paid the same amount no matter what.