Want to leave bedside nursing. How can I get into case management?

[VU RN BSN]

I don't seem to be cut out for hospital nursing.

I've been an RN for 5 years now. Spent a year and a half doing cardiac nursing in a hospital. Burnt out. Tried PACU, and burnt out also. Tried hospice nursing, burnt out again. Now I'm back to working full time night shift in another hospital, floor nursing. I've only been there for 3 months, but I already know that I'm not the right fit. I can't seem to handle all the stress of bedside nursing. Time management has always been a struggle, so trying to juggle 6 patients for 13 hours is overwhelming to me. I hate it.

I want to leave bedside nursing. I do not want to do hands on patient care nursing anymore, it's making me emotionally sick and physically ill. I want out.

I am curious about case management. Particularly case management jobs where you work in an office. But how do you go about finding these case management jobs? What are the qualifications for entry level case management? I've seen very few job postings, and the ones I've seen say previous case management experience is required AND certification in case management is required. How can I find a case management job that does not require CCM certification and previous case management experience? Plus, in this current horrible recession, are there even any case management job openings?

[quetepye]

BTT. I'm currently working on my BSN-RN and case management really, really interests me. I've grown up with a chronic illness and think it would be great to help others in similar situations. I love to plan and organize, and just seeing what case managers chart in my patients' files, it seems like something I'd really enjoy. It's so hard to find ANY information though... do you need a MSN? Certification? Are there jobs out there? Any input would be great.

[d'cm]

One place you can start is insurance companies. They sometimes hire RNs right out of the hospital but not as case managers to start. But getting managed care experience is a definite plus for breaking into hospital case management. Another approach, which worked for me, is to go into home care. This broadens your experience with the "continuum of care', and also many full time VNs have the title "case manager" which helps. MSN is not required but BSN is for newbies. For hospital cm you have to demonstrate a good knowledge of InterQual and/or Milliman, and how to review a chart and present it the insurance co. UR nurse so it is approved.

The RAC is forcing hospitals to take cm more seriously so I believe there will lots of opportunities to get into it. Also healthcare reform is basing most of it's cost savings ideas on cm principles. It took me about 3 years to go from bedside to hospital based cm, it is a process, be patient.