jeffsher

Yes, your ambulatory care experience will be invaluable. I worked 5 years in-patient (Peds), and then 17 years Primary Care (Peds, Family Practice, and Internal Med). I currently case management elderly and some younger adults, although we will soo...

I work as a PCMH Case Manager (embedded in a clinic, employed by an insurance company), and our primary duty is disease management of patients with COPD and Heart Failure, although with all of the co-morbid conditions, deal with many other diseases a...

Absolutely. I rarely get out "on time" these days. In fact, this was the week from hell. But I still love my job.

Absolutely! I've only been doing it for 7 months now, and it is a lot of work. But work isn't "work" when you love what you do.

Many times companies will post that they want experience, but that doesn't mean that they ONLY hire those with experience. Ignore the experience requirement and apply anyway. What do you have to lose?

It's called "entitlement attitude", and it's becoming more and more pervasive.

Baubo516, I've been out of commission for a while (surgery and a med problem that landed me in the hospital 3 weeks after the surgery) and missed your April post up until now. Glad everything is going well. Being a CNA will be an incredibly positi...

I just started as a Telephonic CM back in January. I work for an HMO, and the position was newly created to cover the Medical Home and Community Case Managers in our system (over 100 CMs; there is also 1 other nurse hired as a coverage nurse). In th...

Just had an inservice on Pradaxa this week. It's not good for those with risk of GI bleed, but it carries lower risk of intracranial hemorrhage. Coumadin has a narrow therapeutic index, which is a definite disadvantage, but it's proven therapy. As...

Pradaxa is a direct thrombin inhibitor, while Coumadin/Wafarin prevents the activation of*4 clotting factors that depend on*Vitamin K. No need for monthly labs and frequent dose adjustments as with Coumadin. Of course, time will tell whether Pradax...

One consideration: how long will coumarin clinics be needed, as the new drug Pradaxa doesn't require lab work?

I was giving multiple chemotherapy meds to a 2 year old for her ALL, mixed syringes up, and mistakenly gave a hep flush IM (was supposed to give L-Asparaginase). I was fortunate that I had already given the Vincristine IVP and not mixed up THAT syri...

MRSA is widespread in the community. In our clinic, we wipe down exam rooms where there has been drainage from a MRSA wound; otherwise, standard precautions.

72 hour stool collection for fecal fat on a patient with cystic fibrosis. Also, I caught a gastroenteritis about 6 months after I finished nursing school. I had been vomiting all night, was dehydrated, and went to the ED. It turned out that I had ...

As an aside, the "success" rate (meaning the patient eventually left the hospital alive) for CPR is 17% when performed in the hospital, 5% for those with chronic illness(es), and less than 3% in nursing homes.

Geisinger Medical Center in Danville PA. Low cost of living, decent salary, and still not a far drive to Philly and NYC. Downside- it's rural (although some may consider it an upside)

Do the physicians "buy in" to case management? That's the first thing that needs to happen. Instead of having the approach of having the patients "change their bad habits", take it one step at a time. Start simple. For the heart failure patients...

Press-Ganey is a powerful force!

Having worked outpatient for the past 17 years, I can tell you that there is a HUGE market for narcs. We would frequently get anonymous and caller-identified calls about a patient getting his/her 180 or 240 Percocets, and selling them in a bar, at a...

Hard to say what the difference is, as it varies from company to company. I'm a Case Manager, and am strictly involved in disease management. In my company, the definition you use for Care Coordinator is called a Health Manager,and they have specif...

It depends on who is hiring. I have an ADN, and a Bacherlor's in Education. The job posting said Bachelor's preferably in Health Care or Nursing, but that's just was the HR dept put on the job posting. The dept I work for just wanted the best peop...

I'm new to Case Management. Currently working for an HMO that is integrated with a health care system as a "float", covering Medical Home and Community Case Management (both disease management positions). Previous experience is inpatient Psych, Peds...

A strawberry/vanilla shake?

I also have a hereditary peripheral neuopathy (Charcot Marie Tooth), and my feet wouldn't withstand shifts working on a transplant floor (earlier in my career I worked in the hospital and just sucked up the pain). I did consider a position as a Tran...

I signed on as a donor from when it first became available to do so with my driver's license. My personal irony is that I ended up RECEIVING a kidney 3 years ago (Polycystic Kidney Disease). I find it hard to believe that insurance status determin...