The healthcare system is a wide and complex field. Nurses face diverse challenges from patients who may require intensive care or specialized procedures. Case management is a perfect opportunity for nurses to showcase their compassion and skills as they exercise their duties. Case management nursing seeks to enhance togetherness among healthcare providers to reduce hospitalizations for severe illnesses. Read on if you are interested in uncovering more about case management.
But what is case management for a nurse?
Case management is a team-based activity amongst the community, frequently nonprofit organizations that seek to provide high-quality healthcare options targeted to the patient’s particular requirements. This healthcare strategy aims to attend to each individual’s needs in a manner that best fits their schedule.
Case management nursing in community can help with job hunting, transportation issues, community involvement, and typical health treatments. A collaborative approach that includes diagnosis, preparation, plan implementation, and assessment is used to attain the intended outcome for the patient successfully.
What are the roles of a case manager?
Case managers are healthcare specialists who strive to meet their patients’ requirements and improve their quality of life. Case managers will collaborate with their clients, their families, the community, and other healthcare providers to fulfill their clients’ specific and special requirements.
Case managers have a responsibility to ensure that their clients have access to the resources they require to achieve the goals that they have set. Case managers must speak up for their clients as healthcare professionals since, most times; these people are unable to speak up for themselves.
Generally, coordination is the word that best describes the responsibilities of a case manager. Care managers serve as the link between stakeholders and healthcare practitioners to guarantee patients the best chance of success.
Four types of case management
There are several levels of case management nursing that can be essential in delivering care to patients. But what are the 4 types of case management? Below is a comprehensive description.
- Level 1: Intake
- Level 2: Needs assessment
- Level 3: Service Planning
- Level 4: Monitoring and evaluating
Level 1: Intake
The intake stage of case management nursing serves as the starting point for all subsequent levels. This step records as many details as possible to accurately reflect the client’s current situation. The client provides this information, and the client’s demands are clearer at this point.
What procedures take place in this stage?
- Collecting demographic information
At this stage, the case manager collects basic demographic data, such as the client’s name, address, and phone number, and clinical records, such as the client’s socioeconomic situation, self-care capacity, health insurance status, medical history, and prior service history. Demographic data is also collected on the ability of patients to care for themselves.
Identifying the client’s current needs
In many cases, the patient will have immediate demands that should be responded to before any subsequent challenges. These details are uncovered in advance and serve in deciding the client’s current prospect.
- Creating a good connection with the patient
A relationship begins to take root during this initial encounter between the client and the case manager. The journey toward developing trust between the two parties begins during these initial conversations, which center on determining how to assist the client best and where they are.
- Understanding if the organization can benefit the client
The case manager utilizes this initial conversation with the client to judge whether their company can help the client. In most cases, if the organization is not a good fit for the client’s requirements, the organization will recommend a different path of action for the client to take.
Level 2: Needs assessment
The case manager reviews all the available info and builds a rapport with the client to understand their requirements, goals, and potential case management nursing critical pathways to attaining them.
Some of the steps that can be taken at this level include;
- Determining key issues, requirements, and desires
It is necessary to ensure that the client’s main issues, demands, and desires are listed in clear and concise terms in health services. Case management nursing relies on personalized, set objectives, and they are only successful if the client’s unique needs are addressed.
- Establishment of specific objectives
As part of the case management process, desired goals must be set and shared with clients. This makes it possible to make sure that everyone involved, including the case manager, client, health service stakeholders, and client’s family, is aware of the intended outcome.
- Inform the client of potential problems
Everyone has a right to be informed about the risks and challenges caused by their health, and case management is no exception. The client and their family should be aware of the issues that can be experienced.
Level 3: Service Planning
At this level, case management nursing identifies specific tasks and goals that will assist the client in getting closer to their goal. The case manager develops a plan that considers all the data obtained in levels one and two. The client’s support network and other healthcare professionals frequently contribute input to the strategy.
The steps involved include;
- Outlining specific goals to achieve the desired outcome
A roadmap of practical steps is formulated. Aside from coming up with this list of tasks, the most significant aspect is that they are realistic and doable. Any action planning, regardless of industry, would benefit from having an achievable feature.
- Setting a timeframe
The other component of service planning is defining a timeframe. Timelines aid in maintaining everyone’s focus and motivation on the current operations. This is just as important as deciding what tasks need to be done.
Level 4: Tracking and assessing
At this level of case management, the case manager and the organization must assess the effectiveness of the plan and confirm that the patient’s individual needs are addressed. The plan and measurements established at level three act as the benchmarks for tracking and assessing progress.
Advantages of case management nursing
Making the decision to work as a case management nurse can also result in job satisfaction. There are advantages and disadvantages of case management nursing, just like any other field. Advantages
- Normal working hours
The average office hours for registered nurse case managers are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Unlike many registered nurses, you won’t have to work weekends, holidays, night shifts, or evenings as a registered nurse case manager. This is one of the major benefits of becoming a registered nurse case manager.
- Job satisfaction
Once you understand what is case management nursing and its roles, it can be very satisfying to support a needy patient in handling the complex and confusing healthcare system.
- Multiple practice environment
You will gain skills and experience as an RN case manager that will facilitate you to find work in a variety of clinical settings, such as ambulatory care centers, outpatient clinics, hospitals, community health agencies, and insurance companies.
- Multidisciplinary work team
Registered nurse case managers can interact with various healthcare practitioners because case management, for example, case management for stroke patients, is a collaborative process, including social workers, staff nurses, and doctors.
- Good relationship
Registered nurse case managers usually serve the same group of clients over a prolonged period. As a result, they have the chance to develop strong relationships with their patients, which may be immensely beneficial.
Disadvantages of case management nursing
- Difficult clients
Your client is likely to include a significant percentage of patients with chronic medical issues. Working with these patients can be quite stressful. This can be one of the main disadvantages of being a registered nurse case manager.
- Paperwork
Working as a registered nurse case manager involves a ton of documentation. If you hate filling out forms, there are better career paths than this one.
- Workload
Patients who require a case manager usually have complicated diagnoses or circumstances in their lives that call for further care from healthcare specialists. The effort required to prepare and oversee the interventions these people need can frequently seem excessive.
- Compassion fatigue
Registered nurse case managers mainly deal with chronic patients. They are, therefore, susceptible to compassion fatigue, just as other healthcare professionals.
Case management nursing models
There are several models of case management nursing; however, here we will look at the four main models that can be tailored to guarantee an effective outcome in various case management environments. They include;
- The clinical case management model
- The brokerage model case management
- The intensive case management model
- The strength-based clinical case
The brokerage case management model
This is the possibly shortest case management model, focusing on assessing needs, providing access to programs, and coordinating and managing continuing treatment.
The clinical case management model
The desire for case managers to offer some treatment services led to the development of this paradigm. The clinical and brokerage models are identical in many aspects, including evaluation and planning, engagement assessment, and community connection.
The strength-based clinical management model
The model is based on a client’s strengths, just as the name implies. In the strength-based approach, it is the case manager’s duty and competence to evaluate and assess each client’s qualities. The evaluation of these advantages then lays the foundation for a client-specific care strategy.
The intensive case management model
Critical mental illnesses can cause a person, as well as their family and friends, severe suffering over a long period. These conditions are identified by a diagnosis, level of debilitation, and the presence of abnormal behavior.
Final thoughts
This article presents a comprehensive assessment of case management nursing. You can argue that this field is a crucial component of the healthcare system that focuses on providing care and ensuring that patients get access to timely and appropriate care. You can still learn a lot on this and other topics with the help of our experts at proscholarly.com.