Raisin08

Hello, Thanks for responding CM1947. My Providers are mostly Infectious Disease specialists/PCPs and a large proportion of my patients have HIV/AIDS. So I do a lot of phone triage for folks, often with compromised immunity and coordinate follow-up, routine appointments, medication refills, referrals, paperwork for assistance and services, etc. Recently we lost a Nurse CM and a decision was made not find a replacement for the position, however new Providers are joining our clinic and the morale among the nurse staff is very low. In addition I have been an RN less than a year and have never worked in an out-patient office. I cant find any information about what the norm is in this part of the industry so it is difficult to gauge how it compares to the workload of other clinics. -Raisin

Hello all, I've been about 6 months at my job in an outpatient clinic as a nurse case manager and it seems a much different role than that of the hospital cm. First, I work as part of a clinical team of several MDs and mid-level providers, and all total the patient panel I serve as sole primary Nurse totals over 1800. I am starting to feel spread too thin- and with so much to do for so many people, its simply impossible to meet all my patient's needs and expectations for follow up calls and care coordination. Could anyone with a similar position or experience compare notes with me? Is this situation standard? Also, are there any standards of care regarding patient panel size for outpatient CM's? I cannot find any. Thanks! -Spread like bean dip in Beantown....

Hello, First some demographics; New grad RN, BSN, decade of Acute hospital CNA experience, Massachusetts, in financial despair. I have a second interview for a fantastic clinic job- and I think I may get an offer. But I am concerned that If I take a clinic job initially, as a new grad, I may be closing doors to positions in in-patient hospital settings later on. I see that hospitals here in Metro Boston are asking for acute and med/surge experience, but since I'm a new grad it is very difficult to break into those areas here. Can anyone tell me what their experience has been going from a clinic to a hospital position? I don't want to let any good job (this clinic position is awesome) slip past, considering how tough it is for a new grad to get a job here (I've put in 180 applications and gotten 3 interview offers), but I also don't want to ruin my chances of ever getting into a hospital. Thanks!

I wanted to post the outcome- in case anyone has the same problem and reads this... PCS called back about an hour after I left a message telling them they had not entered/forwarded my license application info. The lady took some additional information and I had my license number on the BON website a half-hour later. I was very happy about the speed with which they got back to me and fixed the problem, and I'm even getting nibbles at my resume- now that I can prove I'm a nurse.:wink2:

I'm glad I did call- Apparently there was a lapse in communication between the people who received my application and the BON. The board had no record of my application at all (which was sent and paid for a month ago). Long sigh.:zzzzz So, at least I was able to alert the proper persons to the error. I just hope the resolution doesn't take long, i don't seem to be able to catch a brake in this process. No wonder I haven't been offered any interviews for my 200+ applications- I have no proof of my credentials-jeez.

Hello, I passed the NCLEX (RN) in Massachusetts 2 1/2 weeks ago and still there is no license number in my name on the MA BON web site. How long should this typically take? The website says it should only take 7 business days for the LIC# to post there, but does not say from what point those 7 days begin- I will call on Monday with the phone number furnished online, but have had very little luck getting info, a person on the line or any calls back in the past. Any info would be helpful- Thanks.

I don't mean to be all gloom and doom- I'm sure there are jobs for new grads here- somewhere... This is what I've learned so far about getting a job as a new grad in Mass #1. A lot of hospitals have new graduate programs that may not be well advertised but fill up fast, so I would suggest calling HR at the hospitals where you want to work to find out. #2. You have to be very persistent; "if at first you don't succeed, try and try again." I'm planning to concentrate on a couple of places and find out who the nurse recruiters and managers of the units I'm interested in are, call them regularly and schedule as many face-to-face meetings as possible. #3 I would highly recommend definitely not coming down (if that's an option) until you secure a job first. And maybe get something up there first to raise money and gain experience. I wish I had known more about the market before i came down because now my school loans are looming and I can't be sure I'll be gainfully employed in time. Hope any of that helps and good luck!!!!

Hi Studentmich- I moved from Maine to Mass in August when I graduated (BSN) with stars in my eyes after hearing about how much better the pay was down here, but still cant find a job, and believe me- I've cast a wide net. The trouble has been getting interviews:( I did a lot of applying before I took the NCLEX, heard nothing, then did a whole lot of applying again afterwards and so far have had little luck. I really hope you have better luck down here, I'm considdering commuting to Maine from here if it means a paycheck.

Me too. I graduated in August with my BSN and moved to Massachusetts for my husband's job, only to find it just about impossible to get an interview- even at in rehab, LTC and clinics. After 100+ applications I got just one interview and haven't heard anything...fingers crossed. (I thought 7 years of CNA experience in an acute care hospital would give me a leg up, but so far that hasn't been the case)