Does CM Experience as Social Worker Help?

[delerben]

I have an M.A. in Psych and worked in CM (social work position) for ten or so years. I am now finishing up my BSN. I also have been a CNA on an ICU for two years. With this background would it be possible to get a job as a Nurse CM right out of school?

[funnygirl_rn2]

I have an M.A. in Psych and worked in CM (social work position) for ten or so years. I am now finishing up my BSN. I also have been a CNA on an ICU for two years. With this background would it be possible to get a job as a Nurse CM right out of school?

Not sure about when you graduate, doesn't hurt to try. I work for a small company where they hire either nurses or social workers. We all perform the same job.

[BahaMamamaRN]

Our social workers do the discharge planning piece. The nurses do the case management aspect. I feel there is a lot of bargaining with insurance companies to get the patient more time. I think a year of floor nursing with your history of working in socail work would suffice. Just to give yourself some time to understanding the medical aspect of the job. Often, I give the physicans the anticipated plan for discharge and what can be manged at a lower level of care. It's up to you but I think you would find it beneficial to have some floor experience prior to taking fulltime role as an RN Case Manager.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

get floor experience first. i had some years in social work also prior to becoming a rn but i worked by the bedside for a few years before working as a nurse cm. believe me, i would have never ever been able to do this job effectively without the clinical background because no one is teaching me how to be a nurse, they are teaching me how to input data for ur and the software to use to find community resources.... that is all! therefore unless you can find a case management program willing to train you as a new grad (nursing and case management), you must already know nursing.

for example, you need to know typical courses of treatments given particular conditions. you will need to be able to educate patients regarding medical courses of treatment as well as talk to your patients about the best plan of care for discharge based upon their current medical condition. you also need to be able to talk to doctors with confidence to request and implement orders. plus, you need to be able to talk to other health care professionals, vendors, and other nurses about your patients to implement orders or convince others to do so in a timely manner. not to mention the ability to read/review charts quickly to know what is going on with the patient or what is being missed.... etc. last but not least, no one will listen to you if you do not know anything about nursing and medicine. school is not enough to convince people that you have a clue. and yes, people ask if you have ever worked as a nurse by the bedside... even your patients.