Miss the feeling of helping people

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I've worked as a Work Comp case manager for a year. I have worked more than thirty years as a nurse. Many of my cases are injured workers who do not want to return to work. No matter how polite and kind and professional I am these workers view me as the enemy. I know it it not personal but I miss being appreciated. Some of the insurance carriers I work with are becoming harder and harder to work with, more and more demanding.

I love the hours and the flexibility of this job. The company i work for is a good one. I want this to be my last job. I do not want to be a whiner. I want it to work. But I need some encouragement. I need to feel I am truly helping people, not just improving the carrier's bottom line.

Any good words?

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I don't know who you work for now but case mgr's can and have been helpful with my home health cases.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

You're performing a necessary role. You are polite, fair and professional. Some jobs don't seem to have the instant feedback even if you are doing bedside care. In some cases they aren't even aware of you. In such situations it might help to recall times in your career where you were given that real-time positive feedback.

You are still that nurse no matter where you are. I'll venture to say that some of your current cases respect you, and maybe even appreciate you for your integrity even if it doesn't go their way.

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Specializes in Peds, Oncology.

I hurt my back at work when a patients knees gave out and she pulled me down with her when she fell. I had to go through pt/ot, pain mgmt md visits, and eventually a nerve block in my back which I was told only had a 25% chance of taking away my pain, and the doctor didn't recommend it, but I was desperate. I did want to go back to work, I just couldn't work with the pain and I was terrified of doing bedside and further injuring myself. My WC case manager was the one who got the nerve block approved for me, and I'm forever grateful for her work and caring nature. I have been 100% pain free since that procedure. What you do does make a difference!!! Thank you!!

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

Hmm.. I was hoping that GrnTea would respond, but she must be busy. Here is one of my favorite GrnTea WC posts... OP maybe this will help? Read her first response.. The other responses are off topic slightly. :)

https://allnurses.com/case-management-nursing/new-wc-cm-932925.html

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Well, MBARNBSN, bless your heart. I have been kinda busy, and when I saw this, I was going to go search for that post and copy it over. But you have helpfully provided it, so there it is.

Ranann, it's my experience that 95% of patients in work comp really did get hurt and really do want to get better and go back to work. so if you're having a different experience it's a good idea to break the mold. Be honest and transparent, as I described in that post linked above, and the classic Mark Twain quote applies: "This will surprise some people and astonish the rest."

Although Twain was talking about always doing the right thing, it still applies to work comp. So many IWs have been told by somebody (or the famous "they") that "the insurance company" is out to screw them that you're on an uphill climb before you've finished your first phone call to set up your home visit.

Fake 'em out not by trying to conceal that or deny its reasonability, but by acknowledging it upfront before you start, as soon as you sit down. See if that doesn't make for a more authentic interaction. We all know that authenticity is the basis for real human relationships, and that's what nurses want to provide, right?

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