Interview for Hospice Case Manager Position

[erinp88]

Hi everyone! I have an interview later today for a Hospice Case Coordinator position. I was told over the phone that most of their patients are in nursing homes which is a big reason they called me. The majority of my experience has been in a long-term care setting. I have what I would consider 'moderate' experience with Hospice patients. I'm familiar with the dying process and what I need to do to make people comfortable. I'm not familiar with some of the more advanced treatments such as the SQ lines, TPN, and IV things.

The position is Monday-Friday and there are no weekend, holiday or on-call requirements. Right now this is the biggest selling point. The wage is $23-$28 and I'm in West Michigan. That seems to be the going rate. I make $26.01 in my per diem position at an Intake office right now, but I'm obviously not guaranteed hours. I don't care about health benefits as I get those through my husband.

Can you give me an idea of what questions I should ask during the interview? Obviously I'm going to ask about their orientation process, case load and how many visits will be required per day. They have a significantly smaller territory than any home care or hospice company in my area... which is nice, because I interviewed for a home care position last week and was told I could plan on driving 100-120 miles a day because the territory was so freakin big.

Any ideas on questions would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks for your help!

[tewdles, RN]

You will want to know about their documentation requirements...if you will be using paper ask if you need to deliver to the office daily. If they have electronic documentation they should be providing you with a laptop (not a PDA) to use. Will they provide a phone? What is their mileage reimbursement?

What do they expect is a typical caseload for RN CMs...in Michigan the acceptable average is 12-15 for solo case managers. If you are expected to carry more, ask about "teaming" with an LPN to meet visit frequencies. Ask them about the case load for MSWs...if the MSWs are overburdened you will be overburdened with social work issues.

There are some good hospices in western Michigan...good luck!

[erinp88]

Yikes! Well, I went to the interview and it honestly didn't feel like a good fit. What the HR rep told me and what the actual director wanted was quite different.

He was looking for someone with hospital experience, which I don't have. There will be weekends and an on-call requirement. Not that that's bad, it just sounded unorganized how it was being done.

The case load was 17-18 and he told me that was low! We're expected to do 5-6 visits a day. There are no separate admission nurses either. However, it did sound like the MSW did the sign on and informational.

No electronic documentation as of yet and they're not planning on it until 2013. I didn't think to ask about paperwork being dropped off. It did sound like people have to turn it in everyday.

The office was also dirty and the staff I encountered seemed somewhat unprofessional.

I already work at the company with one of the biggest Hospices in West Michigan. I think I might see if I can cross train as per diem for right now and I submitted my resume to Hospice of Michigan for consideration.

Thanks for the reply!!

[tewdles, RN]

Good luck!

It is really important to consider how clean the office, professional and pleasant the staff is, and how organized the management appear...sounds like you interviewed them well enough to make an informed decision.