When I became a nurse 11 years ago, I was working on a surgical floor in a local hospital. I was young, excited and felt so blessed to be educated in a field that I could impact a person and their family during their most difficult time. The experience I gained from working on the surgical floor gave me the opportunity to move forward in my nursing career and experience some opportunities in the workers’ compensation case management field.
My first job in workers’ compensation was an onsite field nurse in the western Massachusetts area. My supervisor was a certified case manager and an excellent resource and teacher. Working 25+ files, I became quickly concerned of the “culture” change in this field. Working with adjusters for different insurance companies, the employers, attorneys for the claimants and even some providers, made me enforce the collaborative case management model and to promote communication between all parties involved. Most importantly was to not forget the injured claimant of their needs and goals.
After gaining experience from this first position and some years in utilization review, I was qualified to take the case management exam and passed. Within the first year I became involved in my local case management chapter on the board as chairperson. Being involved with healthcare trends, making a difference in other case managers’ careers by coordinating programs that meet their needs in their profession has given me personal satisfaction as a certified case manager. The quick e-mails or the members’ private comments and “thank you,” encourage me to continue on the path in the career of case management.
Years have passed from my first case management job and working in the utilization review department and I am now working in telephonic case management. Working for a self-insured company, it still can be frustrating to see the lack of objectivity between the adjusters, attorneys and supervisors. I always go back to my original reason to become a nurse and why I want to make a positive impact on the patient and their family. When the claimant has had the best outcome from his/her injury and returned to work or in some functional capacity, it’s the “thank you” from the claimant that really makes my day.
