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Have
you found that the only people who believe we are so pivotal , IS US !! I
was so annoyed by a previous administrator when she dropped my salary by $6
a hour and told me she does not feel MDS nurses "are worth
anything". I was astonished. Our work drives almost everything
in LTC, QI, QM, CARE Planning, Fiscal Reimbursement on a State and Federal
Level, Survey, I can go on and on. I actually had to defend my position to
her, her view of "Us', was pretty low on the Totem pole of responsibility and
necessitate. She felt I was "too critical" when I would validate the
information placed by staff on the MDS, would find errors, and request they be
corrected. How could I be too critical ? I never understand her premise, and was very happy to
leave that place. Yes, they did have problems with survey when the MDS did
not match the resident or the documentation, I wanted to scream
"I told you so" .
That administrator had no issue with pulling me from my MDS responsibilities to
pass meds or do treatments when someone would not show up, in her words,
"everyone needs to help out". That meant I was working way, way many
hours, salaried of course, and still not doing the job the way it should
be done. Anyone else with a similar dilemma
?
Good
advice about the training. MDS is the pivotal point for Long Term
Care. It is an intricate assessment process. Even after you have
the training you will call sometimes daily for clarification on various items
as to code or not to code. Make sure if you do take the job as
MDS nurse the expectation is clear. That you are not going to be
pulled to the floor or have other duties as assigned. Depending on the
amount you will have to do chasing the documentation and communication you
will need will take up most of your time. It is a difficult job at
best. When everything is set up to support you in this position it can
be a rewarding job. But that does not happen very often in this
setting. Long Term Care is very hard and is system after system.
It is not like hospital nursing where we throw labor at problems. In
long term residents are entered into many systems that must be
monitored, daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. If you have never worked
long term care it will be an eye opener. I've done it off and on for 21
years. I'm in the perfect setting, it is only a 19 bed unit attached to
a hospital and all the staff show up everyday. I wish you luck but go in
with your eyes wide open. The amount of long term care
regulations surpassed the amount of regulations for nuclear enery 7 years
ago. We are the most heavily regulated industry in the world. "Little
known fact".
Personal opinion here only....
I would not take a position as a part-time MDS
nurse. On the other hand... nor would I take a position as a
full-time MDS nurse without training. The best thing you can do for
your own protection and sanity is contact www.AANAC.org and find the closest MDS
training class available to you. The MDS is the driving force for
reimbursement and survey if the MDS nurse is a newbie there could be major
problems.
Another observation is that in my 9 years
experience as an MDS Nurse/Case Manager I have never seen a successful
part-time MDS Nurse....not to say there are none I just have not seen
them.
Best advise is to hold on to what you are
doing...and take some classes...then seek employment.
The Nose
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, May 08, 2004 11:44
AM
Subject: MDS nurse pros and
cons
I joined this list last week to see what type of help I could
receive here if I started a new job at a nursing home ,as an MDS, nurse
part time. I work now as your know in a hospital, I am a
DON of the whole hospital,not a floor. It is
getting to be to much and working as a LNC recently.
So my question is:
Can you tell me what the pros and cons are of your job?
thank you for your time.
Lawfully yours,
Medical Legal Nurse,
LNC
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