2nd Annual Nursing Spectrum Networking Event Review

Once again I found myself heading to Dave & Buster's in Philadelphia for the Nursing Spectrum Networking Event. After last year's disappointing experience, I was doubtful about giving it a second chance. But as fate would have it, I was so annoyed at my minders at my current job, I thought it would be a good attitude adjustment to feel as though I at least had options.

Well, my experience this year was somewhat different than last year and I was pleasantly surprised. I think the key to getting the most out of these events is to arrive early. If they open the doors at 8:00am, be there by 8:15. I had my pick of parking in the garage. The line for registration was not awful; I waited for about 10 minutes tops and since I was one of the first 500 registrants, I received my Nursing Spectrum tote bag. I had not pre-registered, but I was able to register on site, and that line was actually shorter than the line for those who had pre-registered.

The disadvantage of arriving so early is that most of the recruiters are not present yet, so you are sort of obligated to attend the Continuing Education session. I was able to find seating, even though the session was crowded. This morning's topic was Case Management. I decided to attend because while I have heard of case management, I didn't really know what it was all about. The speaker was Catherine Mullahy and she was excellent in spite of the audio problems with the microphone cutting in and out. It was obvious that Mullahy was a seasoned presenter. Her slide presentation served to organize the material she was presenting, but she was able to respond to audience feedback without missing a beat.

In a nutshell, she explained that case management was about connecting the patients with the services they needed at the appropriate time and at the best cost. So case management is something many of us do without being nurses. If you have had a sick family member and have coordinated the doctors and appointments and home care and medications and follow-up therapy, and wrangled with insurance companies and other service providers, you have done case management.

One of the most interesting points she made was how patients with similar diagnoses might not need the same level of case management. Mullahy used the illustration of how a woman, age 50 diagnosed with cancer, having excellent medical coverage and a supportive family, being treated at a University hospital with access to Nurse Practitioners might need limited case management, if any. On the other hand, another 50 year old woman diagnosed with cancer might have limited medical coverage, might be the sole support for her family, might be treated in a clinic-based health care system where she sees a different doctor every time, and English is not her first language. This woman would need more case management because at the very least, she will need someone to make sure that any communication barrier between her and her health care providers is addressed.

She also explained how case managers in hospitals are often placed in serious ethical dilemmas because in most instances, the case manager is supposed to help get that patient out of the hospital at the lowest cost, but that might not be the best for the patient. As nurses, we have an ethical responsibility to always place the patient first. Because of this ethical responsibility, it has been the traditional for nurses to be kept out of the loop when it comes to how much it costs to treat a patient. However, if a nurse case manager is responsible for keeping costs as low as possible, then there is an ethical dilemma. You're setting up that patient for a return visit to the hospital, which means you're placing them at risk for nosocomial infections, poly-pharmacy, medical errors, and diminished autonomy. Mullahy's presentation raised my awareness and gave me something to think about.

As an aside, I have to once again call out my colleagues for some rudeness that I witnessed. A woman came into to the presentation late (happens all the time) and tried to sit in an empty seat in front of me. The woman sitting next to the empty seat got all huffy and said "there are other empty seats, you know". Yes there may be other seats in the room, but your empty seat is right near the door and it's silly to expect that someone is going to schlep across a room, in search of an empty seat. Get over yourself.

On a more positive note, I did see more recruiters than last year, although maybe that was because I got there early. There was some diversity in recruiting as well in that not everyone was strictly hands on nursing. I was able to speak with some recruiters who seemed to be genuinely interested in my experience set. So that was a good thing. I even ran into a colleague with whom I attended classes when I was taking my nursing school pre-requisites. It was good to learn we both got through after our paths diverged; we had both traveled a long road.

Overall, I give it a B+. The lessons learned were: you don't have to pre-register, get there early so you can get convenient parking, get your bag, and so you can take advantage of the free Continuing Education seminar.