All Entries Tagged With: "training"

What do hospital case managers do, anyway?

This is a question frequently asked by patients, family members, physicians, and other members of the medical staff.

Many people think that case managers are discharge planners, and that the only time a patient needs a case manager is when he or she has discharge needs. Case management is much more than that. It is important that we make sure that, not only do patients and families know what case management is, but that the nursing staff members know also.

Case managers work in forces behind the scenes, much like the crowd of people in the Verizon commercials. Case management is a hidden resource for patients. Often, the case managers work in the trenches, with their heads in charts, communicating with an interdisciplinary team of healthcare professionals to make sure that the patient is moving smoothly through the continuum of care, and there are no delays or detours in their care. This is usually an unknown aspect of case management.

Hospital personnel and the public need to be aware that case managers are advocates for all patients; they ensure that their healthcare facility and professionals are doing what is truly right for the patient, in the right setting, receiving the most appropriate care, and in the most cost-effective manner. Case management follows the patient’s plan of care to make sure that it is appropriate and timely, that their hospital admission status is appropriate, that their discharge planning is initiated, and that goals are set to meet the discharge plan. It is imperative that the case manager build a relationship with the patient and their families in order to reach a mutual goal of discharge.

It is also important for the bedside nurses to know that case managers are an excellent resource for them in planning the patients’ care and goals. One thing I did at our institution while we were redesigning our case management model was to do a mandatory in-service to nursing staff on how case management affects not only patient outcomes, but the financial outcomes for hospitals.

At our institution this year, we included a station on case management and interdisciplinary rounds at the nursing annual competency testing. Case management had a display booth with information about what case management is and the importance of interdisciplinary rounds. We also had a test for the nurses to complete. The comments we received from staff were very interesting.

Does your institution do anything like this? Are you confident that nursing staff members truly understand what case management is?

And one more important question: Do your physicians really know what case management is?

Time-saving strategies for hospital case managers!

The job of a hospital case manager is complex, to say the least. Between keeping up with regulatory changes, ensuring proper clinical documentation, planning for appropriate discharge, and making sure patients receive adequate care while your facility maintains fiscal integrity, it can be difficult to juggle all that needs to be done.

In an upcoming issue of Case Management Monthly, we’d like to feature the top ten time-saving tips for hospital case managers from you, our readers. Help your fellow hospital case management professionals beat the stress of their job and optimize their time by sharing your best time-saving strategies. Send your tips to Managing Editor Janelle Randazza; all selected entrants will be featured in the June 2009 issue of Case Management Monthly and will receive a free copy of the issue.

Training and retaining case managers

Despite the effect the economic downturn is having on the national job market, hospitals still face a daunting challenge in retaining quality case managers.

We spoke with training expert Beverly Cunningham, MS, RN, vice president of clinical performance improvement at Medical City Dallas Hospital in Dallas about ways to improve training and retention techniques in both our recent audio conference Designing Case Management Orientation: Simple Solutions to Educate Staff and Reduce Turnover and in the January issue of Case Management Monthly

Cunningham says that some of the reasons for case manager turnover are the high stress of the profession, long hours, and the difficulty of transitioning from nursing or social work into case management. But many of these issues can be resolved with a strong preceptor program.

”When new case managers merely shadow senior case managers, senior staff members usually pay more attention to the job at hand than to their trainees’ individual learning styles,” Cunningham says.

Cunningham says that effective preceptorships must be planned, organized, defined, and tailored to the individuals. Successful preceptor programs:

• Assign a designated person to manage precepting of new employees, and this person must be educated about the training process.
• Create specific goals based on individuals’ strengths, weaknesses, and planned career paths.
• Have employees meet with a selection of senior case managers, so they can view varied skills and approaches.
• Request reviews of trainees’ skills from their preceptors.
• Have regular meetings with new employees throughout the first year of employment, which identifies areas where trainees need further support.

What are you doing at your facility to improve staff retention and training?