unable to find MDS job...

[amazing09]

I've been MDS certified for the past eight months and have been unable to find a job:mad:. Every facility wants experience of at least a yr...however if noone hires me how am I suppose to get the needed experience.Any ideas??????????

[sls73]

i had no formal mds training when i was offered the rnac position. i had worked at the facility for years and they knew i was the detail oriented- anal person the job needed. the don did not know much about the mds process so i was given the "blue bible" and learned a lot of it on my own and went to seminars. be realistic with yourself though- if you have no mds experience, you will not learn this position overnight. i learned it in phases. 1st- coding the mds 2- rugs classification and 3- medicare/medicaid reimbursement (case mix state) oh and dont forget how this all ties into the qi/qm's. i continually learned new things and didn't feel comfortable with everything for a long time. i am aanac certified, but i will be honest i did that later in my career. can you maybe assist someone with the process? get a job as a staff nurse and tell your employer you are interested in learning the position. you can fill in and help with sections of the mds and maybe fill in for the rnac when they take vacation.

[catnip3]

I'm a rare one, I guess! I was hired as a totally inexperienced RNAC who had 12 years home health backround! I had NO experience as an RNAC, but dealt with PPS and the OASIS assessment process in home health. I guess I did okay... 10 years later, I'm still there!

[GRACERN47]

Trust me I have been doing this since day one(when things were much easier and more patient focused instead of paper focused) There will be plenty of jobs soon . The head hunters call all the time. Since 3.0 I have had 2 calls from 2 other facilities. No one wants to stay in this field without extra help. I am very lucky, my company is very into knowing the importance of what we do and has allowed me to add to my staff all. We are all RN's so we can all do and sign our own assessments. Good luck!

[dance4life]

So I guess what some are saying is it isn't a good idea to get certified. =/ That I won't use it until I do 25 years of staff nursing. In which, I haven't been able to find a staff nurse job in lets say 2 years.

Your totally right on there. One of my old supervisors who I keep in contact with is a MDS/MMQ nurse. She also does Case Management. She learned on her own. I know they have classes and I was thinking of taking them, because most jobs say you need to be certified. But, I didn't even think of the experience.

Forget about even having to get my foot in the door at some place. I can't even get there at this point.

So no hope for me then. That would be a total waste of cash and time. Rather do CEU's and futher my education and get my BSN.

Thanks for the heads up.

[itthybitthythpider]

I agree. I got offered the oportunity to become the RNAC for my facility because I was a floor nurse there. I am looking at getting certified, just because that would give me a much better insight into the whole MDS process.