Transition from bedside nursing to case management

msladynurse4life, BSN, RN · Oct 31, 2013

I just interviewed for a case manager position working with trauma patients in a large hospital. I was offered the position, but I'm nervous about accepting it. I have been a med/surg nurse working at the bedside for about 9 years and this is completely different than what I'm used to. I want to take my career to a different level and be more involved in discharge planning, but I'm worried about the hours (M-F, 40hrs/wk and being on-call) and that it's a salary position. Has anyone else made the transition from the bedside to CM and how was it?

msladynurse4life, BSN, RN · Nov 1, 2013

Well, I ended up accepting the case manager position. Although I love med/surg & "bedside" nursing, I want to work from a different aspect of patient care. I have worked as a charge nurse in med/surg for awhile now and I'm at a point in my career, that I want to advance in a different area of nursing that allows me to utilize more leadership skills. I believe my experiences will prove to be valuable in my new position and I'm excited about it. I will work with the trauma/surgery service in a large teaching hospital. Any advice for a new CM will be greatly appreciated!

edmia, BSN, RN · Nov 1, 2013

Well I ended up accepting the case manager position. Although I love med/surg & "bedside" nursing, I want to work from a different aspect of patient care. I have worked as a charge nurse in med/surg for awhile now and I'm at a point in my career, that I want to advance in a different area of nursing that allows me to utilize more leadership skills. I believe my experiences will prove to be valuable in my new position and I'm excited about it. I will work with the trauma/surgery service in a large teaching hospital. Any advice for a new CM will be greatly appreciated![/quote']
No advice but I would like to know how it goes. I'm seeing more and more CMs and have thought about it myself. As you mentioned, the 5 days a week is a little scary for me but if all your work is done by 4pm, it could be doable.
Good luck and share your experience as you get going!
Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

msladynurse4life, BSN, RN · Nov 2, 2013

No advice but I would like to know how it goes. I'm seeing more and more CMs and have thought about it myself. As you mentioned the 5 days a week is a little scary for me but if all your work is done by 4pm, it could be doable. Good luck and share your experience as you get going! Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com[/quote']
Thank you! I'm really excited to start a new chapter in my nursing career. I have been reading some of the posts on this forum and must say they have been very encouraging and helpful!

artistnurse · Feb 18, 2014

I'm curious to know how it's been going. I'm now interested into going into case management. Pros cons, things you miss about bedside?

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Feb 20, 2014

One small clarification: Case management is much, much more than discharge planning. As a matter of fact, if your job description is only discharge planning, you won't meet the requirements and won't be able to sit the CCM exam for certification. But as this is an old thread, I expect the OP knows that by now. :)

msladynurse4life, BSN, RN · Feb 21, 2014

One small clarification: Case management is much much more than discharge planning. As a matter of fact, if your job description is only discharge planning, you won't meet the requirements and won't be able to sit the CCM exam for certification. But as this is an old thread, I expect the OP knows that by now. :)[/quote']
You are right.. Case Management is much more than discharge planning. Being a charge nurse on the weekends, I had an important role in helping to facilitate a smooth discharge. I know the case managers play a big role in this as well, which helped initiate my interest in case management. I wanted to be more involved in that process as well as all the other aspects of case management. So far, I really like what I do. I also do utilization management as well. I work with trauma patients in a large hospital, it is challenging at times, but I really enjoy it. I do plan to also sit for the CCM exam after I get more experience.