Bear05

Yes, it's a CM position. It's a community organization that provides services for medicaid clients. The CM is responsible for coordinating care, assess needs, referring pt's to appropriate resources, educating, and following up with pt's in clinics/home. The BCBS job is a 3 month contract position with future possibility of getting hired on permanently. It's an Episodic Care Manager position. The nurse performs medical reviews. Basically utilization management. I was told that they train you for a month, but I'll find out for sure when I go to the interview.

Thank you for the advice! I'll definitely take it under consideration. Good luck to you.

I plan on working prn just to keep my foot in the door. Jobs are very hard to come by now. I also just got a job offer for a clinic CM position that I applied to. The job sounds very interesting and focuses on medicaid clients. The only problem is the pay, which is lower/salary position. I could afford the cut, but not sure whether to accept or not. I'm lucky considering this is my first CM offer so far. Should I take the low paying job or hope for the best regarding the insurance position through agency. Any advice would be appreciated. Sorry for the long post.

It is difficult, especially now since I'm getting older. You can google medical staffing agencies, indeed, or careerbuilder to find flu clinic/agency jobs.

That's true. I'm just afraid that if I pass up this opportunity there will not be anything else out there. CM jobs are so hard to get.

You could always do the flu clinic until you land a permanent full time job. I agree with the previous poster about getting plenty of hrs since the commute is a hr. You can apply to more than one agency too to get hrs. I'm kinda in the same boat except that I'm still working as a floor nurse and want out immediately! I've recently been offered a case management position that has a low salary which is the only downfall. However, there maybe an opportunity to work as a insurance co CM through an temp agency with a possibility of being hired on permanently. I can not decide what what to do but would love the insurance co job though.

I have wondered this too. I have an interview for a 3 month temp job with bcbs. I wondering if this would be the best way to break into the profession since I'm having no luck with obtaining jobs in the field. If the opportunity was available, so I quit my full time job and go prn for the chance of getting hired on permanently? I don't think that I'm going to last another day on the floor to be honest.

It would depend on how flexible your current employers are and if they would allow you time off for clinicals/class. Can you cut back your hrs on your current job?

I personally could not work 5 8h shifts as a bedside nurse. Working 3 12's is already hard enough. Is there any way that you work 3 in a row so that you would have more days off? Your current schedule looks tough since you're not getting much days off in a row.

I agree with the above poster. I would probally choose the SW route though.

Have you tried applying for acute care nursing positions at the hospitals in your area? If not, I would suggest doing this first. It's super competitive out there and experienced nurses like myself are having great difficulty obtaining non clinical nursing positions too. Good luck to you.

I know how you feel Techno! My apps are just sitting there in limbo. It's super competitive out there since so many nurses are attempting to get into this field. I think that I may be at a disadvantage since there are no Wellpoint offices in my state. The nearest office is in VA and I think that they give preference to those that live within the same state where the office is located. Well back to searching jobs.

I feel the same way about nursing. I've been doing this for 9yrs now and trying to get away from bedside nursing. It's been so hard finding jobs away from the bedside lately. I'm also thinking about returning to school in order to leave this profession for good.

Glad that you're liking the new position. I can't wait for the day that I can put bedside nursing behind me for good. If you don't mind me asking, did you have prior experience in CM when you applied? I've applied to several WAH positions including one specifically for NC/VA nurses. So far I've had no luck. I'm now thinking about applying to temp agencies just to get the experience. Any thoughts?

That's good to know. I guess I'll just keep trying and hope to be called some day.

I'm in the same boat. I've applied everywhere including hospitals and insurance companies. I applied for a few positions at Wellpoint and haven't heard a thing. It seems like these types of jobs are very difficult to get.

I work 3/12s (nights) on a cardiac floor. No weekends since we have dedicated weekend staff. I would pick the ED so that you could get acute care nursing experience. It would also open many doors for you in the future. Do what you feel is best for you and your family though. Good luck to you.

I'm going through the same thing now and just can't tolerate nights like I did when I was younger. I'm completely stressed and lost more than 10 lbs this past year d/t nights. Basically, you have to listen to your body because your health comes first. If you can't stick it out until a day shift position opens, you could try applying to other units within your facility if possible. Good luck to you.

I've applied to several work from home CM positions with WellPoint in July/Aug and my status still shows resume adknowledged. It seems like it's so difficult to get these types of jobs! Are they looking for CM experience? I have 9yrs of experience in med-surg, renal, GI lab and cardiac. Sometimes I just feel like giving up since I've had no such luck

Thank you so much for the responsembarnbsn! It was very helpful. So far I've received a brief overview of the organization and the expectations of the case managers there. I'm scheduled to have a 2nd interview with them next week which will be more detailed. I really want to enter this field, but I'm very nervous at the same time since this will be something entirely different. Thanks again and I appreciate all of the invaluable information posted on this forum!

I'm going to an interview this week for a nurse CM position. The position is at a not for profit community organization that assists members enrolled in the medicaid program. I have 9yrs of nursing experience which includes med-surg stepdown, outpatient procedures, and cardiac. I'm very nervous, yet excited that I've been given the opportunity to interview with them since I have no case management experience. I would like to know if it's common to have high caseloads with these organizations? Are salaries generally on the low side? Would this type of job be a good place to start for someone without CM experience? I know these questions will be difficult to answer until I receive more information from the interview. I would appreciate it if someone could give me some advice if possible. Thanks!

This is a good question that I've been wanting to know as well. How difficult is it to learn workers comp without previous case management experience?