BY , RN-CGMT, BSN, MS, LCCE, FACCE
Last year, I was losing hair from the stress of not being able to help my colleagues in New York City ICUs. I did not have the needed skills and have learned to help in other ways through volunteer agencies. My hair is growing now.
My biggest fear now is watching these nurses leave the profession from the horrors of this pandemic battle. A recent Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll1 revealed that after a year-long pandemic, a third of healthcare workers have considered leaving their profession. How many nurses have already left?
The American Nurses Association (ANA) has been listening to concerns and addressing them.2 For those non-member nurses or nurses too overwhelmed to search for resources, we as case managers need to help the caregiver.
Tell them about the opportunities in case management, the varied practice settings available, your love stories about how your advocacy made a difference in someone’s life. Talk to them about the fulfillment of your career.
Maybe they are feeling the loss of a dead colleague3 and have not dealt with their grieving or even realized they haven’t mourned. Find a time to pull them aside to a quiet place and ask them to tell you about their friend.
Many of us are standing on the shore, but we don’t have to be idle. Be proactive and save part of our interdisciplinary team.
, RN-CGMT, BSN, MS, LCCE, FACCE, has more than 40 years in case management experience from primary nursing in high-risk OB and L&D, to case management at BCBSSC. She is certified in case management with ANCC. Marty holds a bachelor’s in nursing from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and a master’s in operations management from the University of Arkansas. She is a retired Lt Colonel in the USAFR and currently in the ANA Mentorship Program and a Case Management Institute instructor.
