Re: Nervous....Starting Clinical Assistant Job Originally Posted by codi1226
Hi everyone,
I am hoping to get into nursing school and wanted to get some hospital experience before I made the commitment. I was hired as a clinical assistant (nurse assistant/unit secretary) at a local hospital. I am very nervous because I have absolutely no experience in the medical field (I am switching careers from education to nursing). The training session is only three days long, and then I will work part-time, two days a week. People have been telling me it will be difficult for me to get the hang of things if I am only part-time. However, I have a second job that is better paying at the moment, so I am cautious to give that up. Can anyone give me some wisdom/words of advice/an idea of what this job will actually entail?? I feel very unprepared and am afraid I will make lots of mistakes in the beginning, because I am brand new to the whole hospital environment. Please help!!

I too totally switched careers when I started working in healthcare. I worked as a custom picture framer for 8 years before I became a CNA. I started off in Assisted Living and for the first two days I drove home near tears because I kept thinking to myself "what have I done?! I have no idea what I am doing!!"
As with all things new, it will take time to adjust to the new environment, routine, work load that you have. It took me a good month of full time work to really feel like I wasn't a burden on my fellow employees and that I wasn't going to seriously harm any of the residents.
Your job role will depend on your facility, however at the hospital I work at I bathe the total care patients, assist others with washing backs, lower extremities, help people to the bathroom, change linens, empty foleys and give results to nurse, assist with meals and also transport patients to the different departments (x-ray, endo etc). I also assist the nurses wherever needed such as dressing changes, inserting foleys, NG tubes etc.
Yes you will be physically and emotionally tired by the end of your shift, some days you will feel like you have been run over by a truck. But let me tell you something. Bad days seem to go away when the family of a dying patient thanks you up and down for your caring touch when you bathe their family member and that Thank you card you may get makes up for all the days when you feel as tho there just aren't enough of you to go around.
Yes this job is demanding. But I love it.
Good luck
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