Nurse Kaycee Here

Are you considering a transition to case management? As someone who made this transition myself, I’d like to share some tips that helped me effectively transition from floor nursing to nurse case management.

My Journey:

I started my nursing career as a floor nurse on a busy pediatric medical surgical floor. After two years I was left feeling burnt out and knew that a change was necessary. I inquired about transitioning to the case management department at my hospital-however, I did not have my BSN so they would not allow me to change departments.

I did not let that stop me.

I did what any other burnt-out RN would and went straight to Google to look for case management jobs that would take ADNs. I stumbled across an outpatient RN CM/office nurse role, applied, and got the job.

Steps to transition Successfully:

1. Before making the leap, shadow an RN Case Manager to see if it’s your cup of tea. It’s a significant change from hands on patient care. You won’t ever have to touch a patient. You’ll be sitting and working on a computer most of the day so make sure you’re okay with sitting down for long periods.

2. Start looking at job descriptions! First you need to meet the basic job qualifications. Look at each job description carefully and see if you meet the minimum requirements. Look for any gaps you may need to address on your resume.

3. Understand the basic criteria needed. Most RN CM jobs have common requirements including: A BSN or ADN with case management experience
   • 2-3 years of inpatient/acute care experience
   • Experience with charting systems such as Epic
   • Any prior CM or utilization review experience is a plus

4. I recommend using key words from the job description and adding them to your resume. For example, one job description may require “excellent interpersonal skills”, you can then tailor this to reflect your experience and ability to provide this skill set on your resume while using the term “excellent interpersonal skills”.
5. Prepare for the interview.
   • Research the institution, understand their core values and mission statement.Prepare to give specific examples of how you’ve handled conflict, resolved a complex patient problem, a time you went above and beyond, and how you multitask.

If you get nervous during interviews and you have time, I highly recommend practicing interview questions with a friend or family member.

I’ll make another post in the future about how to effectively ace an interview.

These are all things that helped me get my first case management job. Let me know if you have any questions. You can book a coaching call with me here to discuss details, tailor your resume, and prepare for your interview.