Moving to Risk Management, help!

[SnowybirdRN]

Hi All,

If this has been covered recently, I apologize in advance.

I have over a decade of nursing experience, 9 years in adult ICU, almost 4 years in a telephonic triage setting. Currently, I am near the end of my MSN in Education. For a while, I have been interesting in risk management and think that is how I would like to transition my career!

Can anyone share pathways to move to risk management? There are no current positions in my area and most I see in general require some experience in the field/certifications.

What would be suggestions for getting experience to build my experience to be a qualified candidate once a position opens in my area? Are these classes I can take or certifications I can get without experience? Would the Legal Nurse Consultant (think, Vickie Milazzo) help?

MBA?

Is this market saturated? Would moving in the direction be a good move?

Are the moonlighting, consulting opportunities once one has RM experience?

I really appreciate any advice/mentorship!

Thanks,

E

[ivyleaf]

Following!

[RiskManager]

Here is some information that I posted last year for a nurse who had just been hired as a risk manager with no experience:

Welcome to the profession, although I always find it interesting when a facility hires a risk manager with no training or experience in the field. Risk Management Handbook for Health Care Organizations: 9780470300176: Medicine & Health Science Books @ Amazon.com is the standard textbook in the profession. Welcome to ASHRM websiteis the professional organization for healthcare risk managers and offers training courses. You can also contact the hospital's malpractice insurance carrier and ask if they have any helpful materials. Finally, don't hesitate to message me if I can be of any help

[RiskManager]

In terms of the recognized certification in the field, the CPHRM, issued by ASHRM, is the de facto standard if you want to be a healthcare risk manager. A MBA is very useful if you move up the risk ladder into management, since at the higher levels, risk is more of a business and financial function, as opposed to reading incident reports all day.

There is not necessarily a lot of jobs in the field: a 300 bed hospital can have hundreds of nurses and other staff, and just one risk manager. It can be very difficult for someone with no experience to enter the field. As an example, I do not hire entry-level staff, and a degree in nursing, business or law does not qualify you for a job in my shop. Experience and targeted training or certifications do. The LNC credential is not very much on point for risk management, and despite the marketing materials, very few LNC are making a living at it. Looking to see if the local plaintiff or defense medmal firms are hiring paralegals, or the state malpractice insurance company is hiring claims or risk managers may be one way to enter the field with little experience. All things being equal, I would hire someone with the CPHRM over someone who does not have it.

I do a fair amount of consulting, but I have been at this for 30+ years and have a national reputation in my field. Given that the malpractice insurance companies provide free risk management services to their insureds, it can be difficult to make a full-time living as an independent consultant.

Post here or send me a PM if you have additional questions.