i am a new mds coordinator. i am really the only clinician, and only have the support of an assistant. there are over 100 beds in the facility.
without any formal training, the job is quite a challenge. and, state survey is any day.
i have talked with people in the industry, and it appears usually mds depts have more help.
any thoughts? i am backed up, overwhelmed, but am getting some actual positive feedback. i just feel like a dufiss. it is so hard to mult-task. i feel as if all i do is attend meetings.
WOW! I don't think MDS coordinators at all facilities have it this bad! We have one for ninety beds and she has an assistant. We have a great software program. She works 8-4:30 M-F and never has to stay over or take work home! She is never asked to do anything else besides her job and she is excellent! Our reviews are always outstanding and she works hard to keep our payments high, honestly! :)
I still am seriously considering doing this job, my current job is doing 12 hours on night shift and I think I am getting too old for 12 hours and nights.
the administrator told me it was a tedious job, but I do like things like that, so maybe I would like that job.
What is the average starting wage for MDS nurses.
Just curious as to what they offered me if it is about the norm or less.
Depends on what area you live in, I would think. I would start someone at my facility with little experience at about $25.00 an hour, salaried, though.
Specializes in MDS coordinator, hospice, ortho/ neuro.
How decent the MDS job is depends a lot on the administration. Some places still just don't get the idea that the MDS score = income and use the MDS folks for PRN pool, on-call, etc, etc, etc.
Or some think that its OK to have someone just fill out the bits without knowing much about the impact of all that data ( QI, RUGS score ).
I don't have on call, work M-F days / no weekends / no holidays unless I want to for some reason. I maintain our facilities computer network because everyone else is scared to death of it, do careplan meetings. Its me and another MDS nurse for 99 beds.
Its also one of those jobs where those obsessive tendencies will really work for you. I'm beginning to think its almost a requirement.
how decent the mds job is depends a lot on the administration. some places still just don't get the idea that the mds score = income and use the mds folks for prn pool, on-call, etc, etc, etc.
i am now a few months into my position as a mds nurse. our facility has about 120 beds. it is me an one assistant. we do everything. everything includes all data entry, all assessments, all care plan conference schedules.
i have a question: what is your process regarding raps and care plans? the nurse i replaced always did the raps before the care conference and care plan. now i am hearing the raps should be done after conference so that more information is gathered.
i also had a question regarding medicare time lines: if you have a medicare resident who goes out to the hospital and comes back, are raps again required by day 14, or do you just do the readmit 5 day and 14 day?
i got through a state survey with no problems...which totally floored me. i do have a lot of experience with data abstraction, pps in other areas, etc.
i would say to those considering mds: it is stressful...just like the floor nursing. i make really excellent money. i am not sure if it because i am lucky or because of my experience in other areas of pps.
if anyone can answer my above questions, it would be appreciated.
somebody mentioned having obsessiveness as a quality for mds. i wouldn't say i am obsessive. i think that out of necessity i have an 'oh well' attitude about alot of it. try hard, make mistakes, take heat, no matter how many hours go into the job. i do feel like everyone's scapegoat. i know people don't think i do much (ha ha). i am not saying that i am complacent. i am saying the scope of responsibility is very high. if i were to take everything extremely seriously i would have a nervous breakdown.
Specializes in MDS coordinator, hospice, ortho/ neuro.
i have a question: what is your process regarding raps and care plans? the nurse i replaced always did the raps before the care conference and care plan. now i am hearing the raps should be done after conference so that more information is gathered.
i also had a question regarding medicare time lines: if you have a medicare resident who goes out to the hospital and comes back, are raps again required by day 14, or do you just do the readmit 5 day and 14 day?
i like to have the care conference before i do the mds & raps, but that isnt always possible, especially around the holidays.
if you did the inital admission and raps before the patient got sent out, then you can just do a 5 day readmit and then the 14 day (mpaf if your state allows the mpaf) unless he came back with a significant change. then you're stuck doing a full assessment (scsa) with raps again.
there is a great site that has a discussion group that is great for asking these kind of questions: the american association of nurse assessment coordinators www.aanac.org i got my certification (rac-c) thru them.
I have to agree with the obsessive part as a requirement for the job. I'm the coordinator for our facility but I have recently been given 2 assistants. We have a 105 bed facility....which sounds really good, but we also take care of all skin issues, monitor our own halls with a unit manager, audit the charts, and the floor nurses and STNA's paperwork, are on call for IV's, and call offs, organize care plan meetings, participate in QA and QI groups, behavior meetings, weight meetings, Admissions, and do anything the floor nurse doesnt, on doctor visit day we do the unit managers job...and the list goes on...not to mention they just cut our hours ,8 hours a pay period. Is anyone else having low census now???
LVN MDS Coordinator here. I put my foot down and only go to department head meeting. We have Unit Managers. They can go to Care Conferences, Restraints, skin, etc, etc. We have a 120 bed facility and two MDS nurses. I do the long term and the RN does the short term.
lvn mds coordinator here. i put my foot down and only go to department head meeting. we have unit managers. they can go to care conferences, restraints, skin, etc, etc. we have a 120 bed facility and two mds nurses. i do the long term and the rn does the short term.
my title is quality assurance coordinator. i am it (with a very young assistant) for a 120 bed facility. i do the care conferences (the only rn there). i do all the mds's. i am also administrative (like an adon without the title).
the people who work in my facility really don't understand what i do. the don is very non-paper oriented, and really does not get involved.
i do think that getting into this field can be very lucrative. i am planning on staying put for a year, then will expand my horizons. it is very stressful.
i am glad to know that lvn's are acknowledged in this work. good for you.
Depends on what area you live in, I would think. I would start someone at my facility with little experience at about $25.00 an hour, salaried, though.
I live in California, an LVN doing long term MDS in a snf. RN does the skilled. I get $28.00 an hour.
Thank you to all who have participated in this conversation. I did comment some time ago about a job I was considering as an MDS Coordinator. I declined that job and low and behold, another one poped up and I took the plunge! Honestly, I took it because they promised flexible scheduling with my family needs.
This is a small facility that has plans of expanding; it is currently at 36 residents with growth "potential" of 98
I am in my second week, attending my first care conference last week, with the DON easing me into the position. I am so green I do not know what questions to ask let alone prioritize. My DON is great but I would "prefer" some formal training and plan to attend the every other month workshops that are available locally.
I am going through the book, MDS 2.0 try to make sense of it all (my DON is out this week and I am wanting to pull more of this together and hope to "know what questions to ask next week"). As I was going through the MDS book, I see at the last page there are some MDS Kits I could refer to for "down and dirty references"; does anyone have any sheets of quick references you could put up on this website? Perhaps a flow chart?
Oh, I just had to ask, I hope also to keep the conversation alive as this thread has been very helpful.
So far so good with the tasks (with lots of guidanceand a very supportive staff... heh I am new...) but I bet it can get pretty stressful without I's dotted and T's crossed :rotfl:
try to make sense of it all (my DON is out this week and I am wanting to pull more of this together and hope to "know what questions to ask next week"). As I was going through the MDS book, I see at the last page there are some MDS Kits I could refer to for "down and dirty references"; does anyone have any sheets of quick references you could put up on this website? Perhaps a flow chart?
donmomofnine
356 Posts
WOW! I don't think MDS coordinators at all facilities have it this bad! We have one for ninety beds and she has an assistant. We have a great software program. She works 8-4:30 M-F and never has to stay over or take work home! She is never asked to do anything else besides her job and she is excellent! Our reviews are always outstanding and she works hard to keep our payments high, honestly! :)