How best to get a foot in the door for CM?

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Hello,

I've read through these forums at great length, so I do apologize if my question is redundant, but I've not seen much info on how to get started in case management.

I'm a nurse with 13 years experience. I also have my BSN and MSN. I have worked mainly work peds and neonates with experience in clinic, hospital and home care. I was often times pool or PRN due to family constraints (my husband is a firefighter so the weekend commitments were tough with our kids and daycare). Regardless of being PRN, I often worked close to a 0.5 FTE and I did work weekends when he was off.

All that said, I'm finding it difficult getting interviews for CM positions. I found the "perfect" job working as a NICU CM, interviewed and was passed over for nurses with more CM/UR experience. I understand that. Many of these insurance companies are recruiting beyond my area and have a host of well qualified applicants. I'm just wondering how I can get the experience if no one will hire me? My background is pretty specific, but I'm applying for any jobs with a high ambition to learn the ropes. I've looked at companies close to home, but they all seem to want that 3+ years of CM experience as well.

I guess I'm just feeling deflated at this point. I've read suggestions about gaining experience working in hospice, but I have to be honest that's not something that I feel capable of doing since losing my mom at a young age. Plus the oncall requirements get tough with my kids and a husband who isn't around very much. Ugh. I feel like all I have are excuses, but my life circumstances really do make things difficult.

Thanks for any advice.

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Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.

It sounds like you are looking at different jobs, but not necessarily traditional Case Management jobs. For example, case managers as we use the term are not Hospice Nurses. Hospice nurses use the CM title in job descriptions and employment, but they perform a different job. So, no you do not need to be a Hospice Nurse to work as a Case Manager that is typical of those that frequent this forum.

Also, a good way to land an entry level position in case management is to talk to your former employers and ask if their Case Management departments would be interested in hiring and training you. Even if those managers prefer those of us with experience, he/she might be willing to train a former bedside nurse that worked for their facility.

Plus, join the local chapter for the Case Management Society of America. You can find a chapter using this website: Case Management Society of America > Home in order to branch out and network among local case managers and possibly connect with recruiters and hiring managers.

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Thank you MBARNBSN. I think appreciate the insight you have given me as well as the direction. I appreciate the help.

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Specializes in Oncology, LDRP, Case Management.

I can understand your frustration. You may want to try applying with some national companies if the local companies are difficult to get into. I also have some general tips below..

Look at job postings for case managers and write your resume to highlight those skills that you have. A resume for a case manager is very different than a resume for a staff nurse. With 13 years experience, you have a lot to put on a resume, so you will want to focus on your skills that are transferable to case management.

Update your LinkedIn profile to showcase the same skills your new resume has.

Network. We have a local chapter of the CMSA (Case Management Society of America), see if there are any case management groups in your area and attend their meetings. Some of the people at these meetings are networking to hire case managers.

If eligible, sit for certification. Most case management positions require certification. Even if you don't have certification in case management, the fact that you have it in another field shows you are likely to obtain your case management certification when eligible.

Continuing education. As a Certified Case Manager, I am required to have 80 hours of CCM credit in 5 years. Even if you are not eligible to sit for certification, you can still participate in continuing ed and place this on your resume. (Ex: Earned 15 hours of case management continuing education on a variety of topics including...)

Consider joining a case management group on Linkedin (I recommend CMSA). You may want to post the same question there.

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Thank you StayatHomeNurse. Those are all very doable tasks I can work on while job hunting as well. I will definitely work on them. The wonderful thing is I have free access to a lot of CEU thanks to my college so I'll definitely start joining some of the online learning opportunities that apply. Face palm for not thinking of that myself. Funny enough I actually did take a course on UR before my case manager interview because I had little to no knowledge on utilization review.

Thank you again for your helpful tips. I really appreciate it and will research this weekend since it's a holiday and there won't be new job postings to go through.

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