Nurse Tech / Assistant Position

Jenn_RN · Jan 12, 2003

Have you completed the Certified NUrsing Assistant class? I know it's required here before working as an aide. Also, at my hospital, the human resources department is not the way to go. You need to go to the nurse manager of the department you want to work for and hand him/her your application in person to get a job. Also, I've heard that it's good to call and ask about your aplpication status again and again, until you get an answer. Good luck! :)

louloubell1 · Jan 12, 2003

Around here you don't have to be certified as an aide if you are a nursing student, but you do have to have completed your first med-surg course & clinical. Before I graduated I worked as a PCA & they had me take a couple of forms to school & have instructors check off & sign that I had demonstrated competency on things like doing FSBS, transferring patients, etc. If you haven't heard back from the hospital at which you applied, I would just contact them, and other area hospitals, again. Good luck with your job hunt!

Lou

Convicted of placenta previa & serving time on couch arrest ~day 10

RNIAM, BSN, RN · Jan 12, 2003

Hi, My advice would be to call back. Give it at least 10 days and then call to see if they have filled the postion. Good luck and let us know how it all turns out for you.

Nurse Izzy · Jan 12, 2003

I've not any certifications at all. The only thing I have "going for me" per se is that I've finished my first semester of school which was Fundamentals/Med-Surg and we did have a clinical rotation. I've been checked off (declared competent) in caths, d/c IV's, enemas, bathing, bed changes - you know - all the good grunt stuff! :) This coming semester we have Maternal/Child and Adult nursing along with clinicals, so I'll have two semesters of clinicals underneath me... What can you tell me about CNA certification - where, how, how long, costs, etc? I'm really clueless! Thanks for all your help!

emily_mom · Jan 12, 2003

We had to have our CNA license and 1000 hours of work or had to take it first semester. I'm shocked that you've never had to be certified.

Nurse Techs/Interns in our area require a Senior nursing status and completion of Pharmacology.

Kristy

dianacs · Jan 12, 2003

Techs usually function at a higher level--and are further along in school--than aides/assistants. Depends on the facility though. For a regular aide position, you probably wouldn't need a license. Here all you need to be a PCA/nurse assistant is to have completed the first semester of clinicals. The hospitals generally provide some extra training on top of that, but all you need to get your foot in the door is having that first semester completed. It could be that your app got misplaced; it happens. I would call HR to verify.

Jenn_RN · Jan 13, 2003

Originally posted by dianacs
For a regular aide position, you probably wouldn't need a license.

I am amazed at how things differ. Where I live, to work with patients (meaning more than just transport), we need a Certified Nurse Aid I certification (no blood draws, no putting in or taking out of anything on a person). To get this, you need a cna (certified nurse assistant) class. The length of the class varies, but mine ran from mid October- mid December. You basically do vitals, baths, bed changes, feed patients, etc as a CNAI.

We are considered Nurse Aid II at the end of the first year of nursing school, and that enables us to draw blood, and do other things.

I'd call and ask what the requirements are and hound them (nicely) until you get a job. Squeaky wheel gets the grease, and all that! :)

Gromit · Jan 13, 2003

Here (Florida) you do not have to be a cna, but no hospital will touch you (for NT) until you have had Fundamentals AND GI (which makes sense, IMHO). You state you applied while in the first semester, I figure that is the problem. You finished up Fundamentals, and (hopefully GI -or at least are taking GI), then apply again, and be sure to note that you have completed those portions of the nursing program. I bet you get results.

-good luck!

essarge · Jan 13, 2003

In hospitals in this area, if you have finished your first round of clinicals, you can work as an aid. If you want a tech position, it takes more training within the hospital. If you want to be a nurse extern, you have to be at least 1/2 way through your junior year with proof (checkoff list from school signed) that you have done certain objectives such as d/c IV, cath, etc.

I was trained as a ER tech/nurse extern so I am able to do more than most aids on the floor. I will tell you, however, that there are a lot of aids that have a tizzy fit when you do things that they are not allowed to do. Most have been NAs for a long time and think that they know much, much, more than you do, so be careful how you handle that situation.

I found the best way to get hired was:

1. Talk to the nurse recruiter (don't sign anything unless you are sure and read ALL of the print on the contract).

2. Discuss what you want with the nurse manager of the area that you want to work in.

3. Fill out application and get a copy. Take this copy to any area that you want to work in to the nurse manager (human resources will put it in a pool of applicants if you don't).

4. If you are sure that this is the hospital/facility that you want to work in, talk to them about an externship that will help pay for school. I have been given (so far) $10,000 in scholarship money from the hospital that I work at. It has helped immensely!

Good luck!:)

Nurse Izzy · Jan 13, 2003

Thank you guys so much for all of your help! At school they actually have a list of what skills we've performed in the clinical setting and how many times. Cross your fingers and say a prayer for me!

RNIAM, BSN, RN · Jan 13, 2003

You've got it. Let us know what happens.