Nurse Together.com
Traditionally, case management has been a tool reserved for complex cases, usually hospitalized patients needing multi-disciplinary interventions. However, that scenario may change as accountable care organizations take center stage next year.
With their mandated goals of cost containment and improved outcomes, ACOs will likely find they need case managers to strategically manage services for all patients, even those in ambulatory care. It’s been said that case management, with its current emphasis on complicated cases, needs to evolve into care management, with a focus on wellness, prevention, and efficient care for entire populations of patients – both inside and outside the hospital. Tomorrow’s case managers will have to consider clinical, financial, and patient advocacy functions simultaneously, as they balance competing interests.
It comes as no surprise then, that the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in its 2010 Occupational Outlook Handbook, identifies case management as a field projected to grow faster than other job categories. For nurses looking to be more competitive within the evolving marketplace of professional nursing practice, case management can be an excellent career choice. This “marketability” in the case management field will depend upon obtaining the credentials, education, and on-the-job experience that tomorrow’s employers will be seeking – so it’s crucial to identify the knowledge and skills you will need, and begin planning strategically to achieve them.
Case management education and credentialing
The field of case management is seeing a new emphasis on professionalism. A study by the Commission for Case Manager Certification(CCMC) reports that more employers are requiring case managers to be certified, and more employers are offering additional compensation for certification. Often, it’s expected that a newly hired nursing case manager will become certified within three years of starting the job.
Requirements for case management certification include:
- nursing degree and current license
- at least 12 months of qualifying job experience
- a passing score on a credentialing exam
So how do you land that first case management job without any experience? Online nursing degrees like American Sentinel’s MSN with a case management specialization can make you attractive to employers, provide you with case management knowledge and skills, and give you the academic background you’ll need to pass the credentialing exam.
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