Case management: within and beyond the walls.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Management
• Professional Development

Background:

• Limited educational programs equip nurses with essential case management skills.
• The job market increasingly demands case management expertise from nurses.
• A gap exists between nursing education and the practical demands of case management roles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of the Nursing and Case Management Fellowship Education (NAMFE) program on nurses' perceived preparation and instrumental use of case management skills.
• To assess the effectiveness of the NAMFE program in bridging the gap between nursing education and service needs.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of nurses who completed the NAMFE program (NAMFE group) versus those awaiting entry (comparison group).
• Assessment of the frequency of instrumental use of case management skills.
• Evaluation of perceived preparation for performing case management skills.

Main Results:

• No significant difference was found in the frequency of instrumental case management skill use between the NAMFE and comparison groups.
• A highly significant difference (p < .0001) was observed in perceived preparation for case management skills between the two groups, favoring the NAMFE graduates.

Conclusions:

• The NAMFE program significantly enhances nurses' perceived readiness for case management roles.
• While perceived preparation improved, further investigation may be needed to understand the lack of difference in actual skill utilization.
• The NAMFE curriculum materials and teaching strategies remain available to support nursing education and practice in case management.