Health facilities evaluator Nurse job

elkpark · Dec 14, 2010

Are you talking about working as a surveyor/regulator for your state? I did that for several years and really enjoyed it. My specialty is psych, and I was a member of the state team that surveyed all inpatient psych and substance abuse units (freestanding facilities and inpatient units within general hospitals) in the state.

Different states do things different ways (and even different branches within my state agency did things differently), but my team did annual, routine licensure surveys of all of "our" facilities, and investigated complaints and suspicious deaths. The job involves a lot of travel -- we were out of town, surveying, pretty much every week; sometimes just for the day, but often away for two, three, or even four days in a week (staying out of town overnight). The remainder of our time consisted of writing up the reports of our surveys and entering our survey findings into the state and Federal survey databases. Every survey, even those where we didn't find anything wrong, required a written report. For surveys in which we found a bunch of deficiencies, the written reports could be 10, 15, 20 or more pages long. The reports are v. technical and precise, and they are public record and have to be able to stand up in court if your findings are challenged by the facility (if a facility formally challenges your findings and the facility and your agency aren't able to resolve the situation themselves, it goes to court and you'll have to testify in court as one of the surveyors involved in that particular survey). The position also involves interacting with everyone from CNAs working on the floors to hospital/facility CEOs and attorneys -- you have to be able to present yourself as competent and professional and come across as credible and reasonable in some v. difficult, challenging situations (sometimes v. painful and emotional situations).

In my experience and opinion, the position requires good clinical experience/background and judgment, good computer skills, and strong writing skills. A LOT of the job is writing, and the writing has to meet legal and technical standards. There's a lot of bureaucratic tedium and nonsense you have to put up with. Also, the amount of travel isn't for everyone. In my experience in my agency, lots of people took positions in the agency thinking it would be a comparatively "cushy" job, but many people find it just isn't for them (often because they weren't really expecting to be away from home as much as they were, or because of the writing demands). It's a lot harder and more demanding than it looks -- but if you like doing it, it's a great job.

Welcome to allnurses, and best wishes for your interview! :balloons:

Jodarb · Dec 14, 2010

Thank you for the reply -a great description of your experience. It gives me an insight and could be the deciding factor if I pursue with this interview or not. My vocabulary is not as sharp as before and its just getting worse(could be the ltc syndrome-lol), Although I know a lot of mumbo jumbo on how to chart and such, I don't know if its helpful enough for the job. Maybe that explains why every year we always notice that the team that goes to our facilities had new members with them.

But then again, it seem like there could be a lot of possible job I can go after I learned a few tricks from this position.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Dec 14, 2010

I'm of the opinion that nurses often make the best surveyors, not only because of their knowledge of nursing practice, but they are usually more realistic than non-nurses about what can be accomplished on a given shift with a given number of staff caring for a given number of residents. They know we can't possibly turn, change, and do ROM every 2 hours on 40 residents with 1 nurse and three CNAs....... :uhoh3:

sueko222 · Dec 20, 2010

I interviewed for this job last year and did not get the position. Can anyone help me out with what they are looking for in an interview? I write well and generally interview well, but don't have a clue as to where I fell short. Of course, it could be because of my experience: 10 years of OB nursing. Is it really necessary to have other kinds of experience to do this job? I am always frustrated when the job requires experience...how are we able to change specialties if getting into a new area requires experience in that area? Anyway, I am up for an interview in the same job, but a different geographical area, and I would really appreciate any suggestions that could help me ace the interview. Thanks.

Jodarb · Dec 20, 2010

What did the interview comprise of? Does it have a written and verbal test?

citizenprimo · Jan 11, 2012

Hi

Not sure what the deal is with Health Care Facilities Evaluator Nurses but almost all the resumes I have looked through with nurses who have this experience demonstrate a longevity of about 6 months.

I am actually looking to make contact with nurses in CA who have this experience to partner up with on a unique consultancy but has not been the easiest thing to do.

Any advice?

ALNC · Jul 6, 2012

I worked as a HFEN fror 16 years. You need to see both sides of a situation.

RNewbie · Nov 12, 2012

I know this is an old thread but I need to vent. I recently applied for a HFEN position in CA. There was a 2 part exam. One was online and I guess the other is an oral interview. The requirements were CA RN license, 1 year nursing exp, 6 mo supervisory/administrative exp or BSN. I'm annoyed because I got a 65% on the online exam, passing is 70%. I have no idea how I did not pass. It was just a self evaluation of skills and how much exp you had with that certain task. There were questions such as my exp regarding court testimony, preparing correspondence reports for executive summary, serving as an expert/advisor for a work group, developing quality assurance/risk management standards, preparing comprehensive report findings, and developing facility policies. I don't have exp doing those things. I feel like unless you have worked in a position as a surveyor, auditor, or quality assurance/improvement nurse you will not have much exp in these areas. I answered the questions honestly, but now I'm feeling like I should have exaggerated. I can not retest until 6 months. Unless something changes, my responses will be the same. I am not a fan of tricky personality tests or evaluations of this kind. I feel that an individual with a license and a degree is intelligent enough to be successful in a position of this kind with the proper training. I'm super annoyed and just needed to vent.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Nov 12, 2012

There were questions such as my exp regarding court testimony, preparing correspondence reports for executive summary, serving as an expert/advisor for a work group, developing quality assurance/risk management standards, preparing comprehensive report findings, and developing facility policies. I don't have exp doing those things. I feel like unless you have worked in a position as a surveyor, auditor, or quality assurance/improvement nurse you will not have much exp in these areas. I answered the questions honestly, but now I'm feeling like I should have exaggerated. I can not retest until 6 months. Unless something changes, my responses will be the same. I am not a fan of tricky personality tests or evaluations of this kind. I feel that an individual with a license and a degree is intelligent enough to be successful in a position of this kind with the proper training. I'm super annoyed and just needed to vent.

Two things: Never, never exaggerate (otherwise called "lie") because they'll find out. And perhaps this employer doesn't have time or money to teach it to you if you don't have more experience than you do.

If this is really something you want to get into, seek out continuing ed offerings on it, offer to help your facility get ready for audits, write some reports and have someone look at them, spend some time talking to your facility or corporate risk manager, and make yourself a better candidate. You've got six months. You can do it, but you have to do it. GO!

elkpark · Nov 12, 2012

I feel that an individual with a license and a degree is intelligent enough to be successful in a position of this kind with the proper training.

I'm sorry you had this experience and hope that things will work out better for you the next time around, but just wanted to comment on this statement you made. I worked as a state and CMS surveyor for several years, and found that the job is a lot more complicated and demanding than it appears from the "outside" (being surveyed). I encountered plenty of colleagues with licenses, degrees, and better than average intelligence who were flops as surveyors, even with plenty of initial and remedial training. Lots of people just aren't cut out for that particular kind of work and responsibility.

Also, in the current employment market, employers are free to be a lot more picky than most of us are used to; the agency may only be considering individuals who have a significant amount of relevant experience at this time, and aren't willing to train people "from the ground up" because they don't have to.

Best wishes for your next try! :)

RNewbie · Nov 12, 2012

Thanks for the responses. I'm approaching my 3 year mark and ready to move on to something else. It's been months of a frustrating job search. The job specifically said that extensive training of didactic instruction and field training would be provided. I just feel like if the requirements do not state that you need previous exp in this area, then the evaluation should not count against you for your selected responses. Anywho, I'm done ranting.