JerseyLilly

Dear MoriahRose, If this is a Medicaid program, each individual state mandates its protocol. In NJ, Medicaid patients must be seen initially for an onsite visit, then contacted every 90 days by phone, then a 6 month onsite re-assessment followed by another 90 day telephone follow up in between and then by an annual assessment. In addition to these, you may be case managing other services such as ordering DME, or making community referrals, or initiating referrals for other services like PT or ST. I personally, feel that 140-150 persons is alot to comfortably manage. I believe it comes to 140-150 divided by 3 months for a total of 47-50 per month or 10 to 13 visits a week. With travel time, interview time, paperwork time, and other miscellaneous case management duties, this may be a big case load for you. I would see what kind of paper work is actually involved and know your new state's Medicaid guidelines. Hope this helps!

Hello! I think "IMO" is abbreviation for "in my opinion". The poster states that you may have difficulty getting a job in a NJ hospital as hiring criteria is different in New Jersey. Perhaps, you should apply first to some New Jersey hospitals before making a move??? I wish you much success in your career! :)

I would ask for full time hours if you are able to work full time. It sounds like a new business, possibly a new urgent care center??? The OSHA guidelines for record keeping are located online--just do a google search for recordibility--anything beyond first aide is usually a record-able for an employer. The OSHA summary must be posted every February 1st in a manufacturing/or other organizational setting. I think because this is a new business, it has not defined what the essential duties will be. If you have only 3 workers, that is probably the reason why--all upstart duties are shared or clear lines of who does what is not established yet! I would speak to the person who hired you to see if it can be negotiated for more hours and a clearer job description. Unfortunately, many of these new businesses, are often times started by medical people who do not have a management background. If worse comes to worse, then start looking for another job elsewhere. Hope this helps!

Check out these websites for info on COHN-S, or COHN certifications: www.abohn.org www.aaohn.org

Pregnancy is not a crime! Just be honest with your new employer so they will know that you will be out on FMLA when the time comes. The pre-employment exam will probably consist of a urine drug screen, and you mentioned a respirator fit test, so you can wear a mask to get into certain areas in your plant or hospital. In the laws eyes, pregnancy is considered a disability and is treated as such. If you are discriminated against because of pregnancy, then your new employer would have violated your civil rights based on sexism. I think you do need to disclose that you are expecting.

Hi, I am not from Idaho, but I can suggest that you check out the national association for occ health nurses and see if you have a regional chapter that meets. Not all states have an occ health chapter but get together on a regional basis. www.aaohn.com

Daisy, The experience the gentleman describes above is not typical in Occupational health nursing! I am sure many of the occupational health nurses on this board can vouch for that. If this is a temporary job only for the summer, perhaps, the company is closing or downsizing and having an onsite nurse available for emergencies may be required by policy. Does the company you will be working for have a job description and what did the last nurse do before you? I would surmise at the very least, you would be available for emergencies, first aide, and maybe to dispense OTC medications (although in some jurisdictions and states you are not allowed to dispense ANY medications, Is your job in Canada or the US?). Hope this helps. Good luck!

I would do some research on the company to get feedback. I recently applied for a workers comp field case manager position with Coventry Workers Comp, but decided not to pursue it as it entailed ALOT of paper work and alot of overtime. Some one from this board advised me to check out the company for feedback from current and former employees. Because of this site I got an inside look about the company I was apply to. Alot of companies lie about the actual conditions in an attempt to lure you in because they need the nurse to fill their contracts.......and also so the managers can get their bonuses, too!!!! Check out glassdoor.com

Hello, Hospice nursing is a very special type of nursing, and feel it is very emotionally draining One has to be the type of a person who leaves their work at work and not bring it home. There is a lot of time management and multitasking involved which you say are your weaknesses--this may be a problem. Also, one must like field work, if it is field based. I would trying doing a forum search on this site to see what others have said about hospice nursing, the caseloads, the ethical principals, paperwork, etc. Also, check under the specialites tab as well. Hope this is helpful.

I would purchase the "AAOHN Core Curriculum for Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing". Try getting used on Amazon or Half.com. This text book is put out by the AAOHN. Another suggestion, but a little costly....get membership in AAOHN and on your state level for aprox $200 year...this includes you state and regional memberships. Network and get connected and you can get your foot in the door and then later get certified. www.aaohn.org

Try checking this website for reviews on this company and others..... www.glassdoor.com

Could your worker possibly have adult attention deficit disorder or an underlying anxiety disorder? Perhaps, a one on one, softly spoken dialogue would help along with a template given on providing "just the facts"? There may be ways around this "chatty-ness" while utilizing and engaging her strong qualities. :sstrs:

Occupational health is definitely moving toward a total health management model where the NP is, due to cost containment, often bypassing the physician and other nurse clinicians. A potential problem with this is that, although there may be a great demand for NP's especially in the Occ health arena, many new studies that are being conducted by AAOHN, are showing that in the long run NP's do not necessarily achieve a greater cost savings. The reason being that NP's do not have enough hours in a day to do EVERYTHING, especially the case management piece which is a HUGH factor effecting the employer's bottom line. As employers cut corners and staff, the NP takes up the slack that once was shared by others in the Occ health team. So yes, right now a NP is very marketable, but I feel that the trend may level out at some point in the coming years either because of complete burn out for NP's or because a shift in focus will occur as employers focus on value-added services that contain costs. As for MPH's they are valuable in Community and Public health venues as an off-branch of occupational health. There is a place for MPH's and if someone wants to pursue this.....well, more power to them!

Hi All, I am selling my COHN-S certification test prep CD by Certistep. Please private e-mail me for more info. I am accepting payment thru PayPal only. Asking $150 postage paid (orginal price $349). Please private email for photo upload. http://www.datachemsoftware.com/cohnprep.htm

You have a very nice resume! Here is my opinion.....you have such a broad base of experience. If you are looking for specifically case management positions, I would narrow your objective statement to that. Are you CCM or any other case management related certified? I would include that. I would narrow your case management skills to bullet points and accomplishments and what you saved the company in dollars, if you can. I am not sure where you live but I would submit a resume to every insurance company even if they are not hiring just to have it in their data base. Remember, we live in an electronic age! Key words and bullet points get scanned and are retrieved by those key words. HR managers, take 10 seconds to scan a resume and decide which to keep and which to trash. To help you get a bite, I would narrow down your resume and have several versions of your resume depending on the position you are applying for. Hope this helps.... Good luck to you!