mds mountain of work with no help

Specialties Geriatric

Published

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.

any thoughts?:chair:

Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

Good luck with your new job. There is a website put up by the Briggs people. MDS Guru. It's an overview of the manual with other info there as well. The company I work for has decided that anyone who does MDSs will now have to take a test to be certified...I have to take mine tomorrow...of course we are all hoping to flunk and then the MDS coordinators will have to do all the MDSs in the building :rolleyes:

Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

Good luck with your new job. There is a website put up by the Briggs people. MDS Guru. It's an overview of the manual with other info there as well. The company I work for has decided that anyone who does MDSs will now have to take a test to be certified...I have to take mine tomorrow...of course we are all hoping to flunk and then the MDS coordinators will have to do all the MDSs in the building :rolleyes:

undefinedundefinedi have been a rcm (resident care manager) for 5 years now at 2 different facilities for 2 different companies.the rcm in oregon is the one who does the mds and all the assessments, raps, careplans, etc. there are 1 3/4 of us - i work 4 days a week and do the skilled residents. i do the raps before the care conference. i do a rough care plan before the care conference and finalize (of course it is never really finalized) on the care conference date. i have never heard of mds guru but will definately look it up. i like the load, the paperwork, the overall work. we just had survey - deficiency free! we were all very excited and the company threw a big party (catered) for the staff!

i guess the point of this is that i really enjoy being an rcm/mds nurse or whatever its called. my feeling is that if you have to work for a living, then you might as well enjoy what you do. :balloons:

Thank you to the posters. I just found out, the DON (who was to be my mentor) is leaving! Now, I am nervous.

I have begun by doing a chart audit, the charts are a mess. My first res. with no labs in 20 monthes on Depakene, and Seroquel! The Dr. did order levels Q 6 monthes but they were not done, according to the chart and the lab... yikes... the PM Nurse said they must have been so I agreed to recall the lab tomorrow.

I am approaching it as a chart audit, with writing Care Plans and organizing the MDS to match etc.; I am working on some quaterly's due next week. I am VERY concerned about not have a regular resource for the support and training.

I think I could be, and have been so far, really happy with this job but I need to be supported now and down the road.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Specializes in ER CCU MICU SICU LTC/SNF.

The MDS 2.0 RAI Manual is the "bible" of every MDS Coordinator. It was completely revised in December 2002. Since then there have been 3 revisions, Aug 2003, Apr 2004, and June 2004. It is imperative you have all the recent revisions. Provided you adhere to the instructions in the RAI, you cannot falter.

However, there are ambiguous definitions or clarifications in the manual. You

need the support of seasoned MDS coordinators who can answer your questions as promptly as possible, and most important, for FREE!

I strongly recommend you enlist in the listserve I have sent you. There are more than 750 participants, 90% MDS experts. And most questions are answered within the hour.

The MDS job is tedious and requires a relentless pursuit of knowledge (not all learned in a nursing curriculum) and a lot of patience. Albeit everything falls into place eventually. To top it all, the financial reward is persuasive.

Good luck!

Thank Talino and all who have responded to this thread. I reigistered and will let you know how it is going. The modules look very beneficial too... It all helps.

night

I am hoping to keep this conversation alive.

I am still challenged by my role as MDS Coordinator. Lately, more so because of being down a nurse through an unexpected health emergency.

The RAI manual has been very helpful as has the list serv for AANAC.

I am hoping to keep this conversation alive.

I am still challenged by my role as MDS Coordinator. Lately, more so because of being down a nurse through an unexpected health emergency.

The RAI manual has been very helpful as has the list serv for AANAC.

Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

Are you as MDS coordinator responsible for only the Medicare patients or do y'all do the managed care as well? When I was the Medicare MDS coordinator/Utilization coordinator I had to do all the medicare mds's AND was responsible for keeping track of the managed patients...getting the authorization for them to be admitted for skilled care and keeping the case manager at the insurance company updated. At one point I had 33 Med A's and 5 managed cares....hmmmm do y'all think that's why I quit? :p

Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

Are you as MDS coordinator responsible for only the Medicare patients or do y'all do the managed care as well? When I was the Medicare MDS coordinator/Utilization coordinator I had to do all the medicare mds's AND was responsible for keeping track of the managed patients...getting the authorization for them to be admitted for skilled care and keeping the case manager at the insurance company updated. At one point I had 33 Med A's and 5 managed cares....hmmmm do y'all think that's why I quit? :p

We have 34 residents one is Medicare, the rest are either Medicaid or private pay. We do have a Case Manager (social worker) for liason with hospital but I am overwhelmed many days with delagated tasks from the floor or the DON. I am about to regroup, again, and try to get my time dedicated to what I was hired for.

I also am the Restorative Nurse, have been "filling in" as acting manager, SDC, and Infection Control.

Oh and they want me to work the floor when short also. :uhoh3:

No wonder, they have been through 4 MDS Nurses in the last 1.5 years.

I am so NOT audit read it is daunting.

We have 34 residents one is Medicare, the rest are either Medicaid or private pay. We do have a Case Manager (social worker) for liason with hospital but I am overwhelmed many days with delagated tasks from the floor or the DON. I am about to regroup, again, and try to get my time dedicated to what I was hired for.

I also am the Restorative Nurse, have been "filling in" as acting manager, SDC, and Infection Control.

Oh and they want me to work the floor when short also. :uhoh3:

No wonder, they have been through 4 MDS Nurses in the last 1.5 years.

I am so NOT audit read it is daunting.

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