nwanne7

My thoughts are with you Robb, it was hard to hear about your cancer, I hope things are going good for you. I think getting involved with Eldercare lawyers is excellent. They also will be able to suggest any consultants in the area. We often share clients with lawyers and they reciprocate. you might also look into and study up on dementia, parkinsons, bipolar disorders , depression, and the resources in your area for these patients. Last night I was at ER for 3 hours with one of my clients who was having a hypertensive/ anxiety attack while her daughter was away on a trip. You really get to know these people well and often end up counseling the family members more than the clients. Tomorrow I will take the client to her primary care physician for followup on her BP meds and then show her an assisted living facility on Thurs. We hope to get her into to one very soon. Thsi gives you an idea of what this position entails. Hope this helps. I will give more suggestions when I am not so tired! Keep in touch.

Hi Robb, The jobdescription you gave is exactly what I am doing right now and I love it. I have been a nurse for over 30 years and lost my office/ surgery type job due to my boss retiring. I knew I could no longer handle the hospital or clinical type nursing , but I had a love for elderly care and have been taking care of my aging parents the past 6 years. I contacted an agency that does comprehensive adult and geriatric care management, they weren't even hiring, but gave me a part time job and it has been great. I am learning the different agencies and resources in the area and working with elder care lawyers, hospice, psychologists, neurologists and social workers. Two of us go out on the initial assessment, I do the medical part and the geriatric counselor does the mental and social evaluation. Sometimes it is a one time consult, other times we end up being the client advocate and help in coordinating care, especially if a family does not live in our area and need help with their parents. I have no added background in geriatric nursing , but have learned about the problems and concerns while going through it with my parents. This is an excellent new area for nurses, and I know it will be growing in the future. Nurses are paid well for doing assessments and can set up their own schedule. It helps to study up on dementia, parkinsons, depression etc and the meds used in these dx. I got my contact by going through a senior resource catalog that I got at the hospital. I looked up websites and just sent an email to the one I liked and got an interview! Hope this helps. Let me know what you think.

This use to be the way we did nursing care many years ago...(I date myself) in some hospitals. I worked on medical floor and had 9 patients all on the same wing where I did their total care. I absolutely loved it. I got to know the patients very well, and their families. I knew the vital signs were done and accurate because I took them. Having the extra time with the patients while doing back rubs, meds, helping them at meal time etc.. you get to spend more time teaching them and discussing any concerns and stress issues. You also get a good assessment of the patients when you are bathing them and turning them. The physicians loved it when they made rounds or called in since you could give them a more accurate evaluation of overall how they were doing. Of course, we always had a few wonderful CNAs to help with some of the care, especially on the day shift. I know things are more complex now, and more time is spent on charting, but if it can be done right, the continuity of care is excellent.

Thanks for the info. I live in Spokane now, so I know the situation here. It use to be a good place to work.

My husband and I might be moving there this summer or fall. Any suggestions would be helpful. How is cost of living there and crime rate?? Thanks for any help!

I also felt like I could have written the same letter. I look back after 30 years and wonder how I did it and why. I guess I came from a Catholic HS so we either had to be nuns, nurses, or social workers. I just recently left an office job due to taking care of an aging parent and a husband who had surgery. Now due to economy, there are very few jobs, I have lost clinical skills ,and offices or clinics hire only MAs. I am now taking on line refresher courses and have so much respect for you young nurses. I forgot how much there is to learn. I just feel bad , I see a future where there there might be fewer nurses, heavier work load, and not as many opportunities outside the hospital. Thanks to all of you who are hanging in there, and remember to treat patients like you would want your family members treated. Worked for me .

Thanks for the input on home health. I have been looking into doing geriatric care management becaae I think that is the future. I hope to find a course on line that I can afford. I have been worried about the clinical area of home health since I have been out of hospital a long time. Take care;)

I have just left a job in a large medical office because they continued to hire only MAs , many were unprofessional and not well educated. It is common for physicians to refer to them as "my nurse" . Clinics don''t have to pay them as much as a LPN or RN. When one of them asked me "what does MRSA mean?" I knew it was time to leave. It is scary out there. Good luck:twocents:

Question to case managers . Where is the best school on line to take courseand get certificate?? I have found one... but tuition is very expensive. Please help! Thanks

Congrats on your graduating! I have been in nursing for 30 years and have worked in both hospital and office settings. The hospital gives you a good starting point to learn so much especially if you work medical or surgical floor. Due to my husband being gone so much (he was in coaching) I had to find a job with weekends and holidays off . I started working in a surgical office and even though the pay is low it was nice to have the set schedule and flexibility. You also get almost free health care and have access to samples the docs can give you. Problem is that most offices now hire MAs not nurses. It is a scary situation since some of the MAs have little experience with sterile technique or infection control. The best place for me to find the jobs was the newspaper or through contacts. Apply to the offices you might be interested in. You mightnot hear from them right away but they might keep you in mind for the future. Good luck.

Hi to everyone! This is my first posting and I hope this site is as good as it appears. Nice to have input. I have been a nurse for 30 years both in hospital and office setting. The physician I worked for retired and now I am looking for a new job. I have looked at refresher course and then realized by the time I am done with all the tests and clinical I will be a year older and with the economy and lay offs realized I will be back on night shift in ICU where I started years ago. So I am looking for suggestions and wondering if CM is the way to go and how to get started. Any recommendations for online sites? Would love to hear from other nurses in my situation. Thanks!