Summer 2012 at West Ga

karamarie91 · Jan 30, 2012

@motivatedmommy, when I first came out of cna school I too was looking for hospital work but I realized that they really want experience. When I got this PCT job, I only had 9 months of experience in a nursing home but I also had volunteer experience at 2 hospitals. I just tried to tie in all those experiences together to show them I am qualified for the job. It also helps if you are going to nursing school because hospitals like nursing students because they see them as an investment. I emphasized how much I wanted to become a RN at their hospital. So I would say yes, experience is a big factor but also alot of applications and netoworking!

You could try nursing homes, home health agencies, and agencies that do hospital sitter services. Being a sitter at a hospital was great because I was still in the hospital even though I only had 1 patient and had to literally sit and monitor them for 12 hours. Still, it had so much to talk about from it. So find whatever way to get experience. Nursing homes and hospitals are alike in many ways! And a nursing manager told me she likes cna's from the nursing home because many hospital patients these days(especially on med-surg floors) are older adults.

Good luck!

motivatedmommy · Jan 30, 2012

Thanks for your advice. I have less than a year volunteer experience at the children's hospital, so I will try to tie that in somehow. Do you think home health would give me some kind of leverage? Most hospitals I see are looking for 1 year experience in an acute setting. And I'm possibly seeking to venture off into the pct route. Do you find that pct is more competive than cna? One thing for sure is that I certainly see a lot more postings for pct within the hospital setting.

karamarie91 · Jan 30, 2012

Thanks for your advice. I have less than a year volunteer experience at the children's hospital, so I will try to tie that in somehow. Do you think home health would give me some kind of leverage? Most hospitals I see are looking for 1 year experience in an acute setting. And I'm possibly seeking to venture off into the pct route. Do you find that pct is more competive than cna? One thing for sure is that I certainly see a lot more postings for pct within the hospital setting.

PCT is the same thing as a CNA basically, other than they can do a few extra things in the hospital environment. I have my CNA license but now I'm a PCT and I didn't even have to do the course. Many job postings for PCT have under qualifications," must hold CNA or nurse assistant license, or completed PCT course". I refused to spend the money for a PCT course when it is not even guaranteed that you will get a PCT job in a hospital. At least, CNA license carries you practically anywhere. That "1 year of experience in an acute setting" made me annoyed too. But I found that the sitting experience in the hospital helped(but that was for only 1 month, so...) I think any experience is better than no experience, but I would rather do nursing home than home health because having nursing home experience shows that you can multitask and prioritze with 8-10 people, which is what you will have if not more at the hospital. Home health is OK, I never did it due to a lack of assignments.

PCT in the hopsitals is more competitive than CNA because hospital work is supposedly easier than nursing home work and pays better than any other kind of CNA work. I got my PCT job by just randomly calling one of the general med-surg floors at a hospital and speaking to the nursing manager. I told her why I wanted to work there and she refferred me to the nursing recruiter. The recruiter called me days later and I got an interview with her, then the nursing manager, and then shadowed the floor for 2 hours and got a panel interview with some of the staff. So it's a drawn out process but only to see if you fit.

karamarie91 · Jan 30, 2012

well do the early april cna classes have evening or weekend options. I remember when I had a full course schedule and was taking cna classes M-Th during the days. So, it is possible.

How about this school? Covenant CNA School. They are in Atlanta. Home Page

I hope the link works, but I was actually going to try them but I ended up finding something cheaper and a little bit closer to me. But the link I posted should be the course schedule and they have evening classes it appears.

karamarie91 · Jan 31, 2012

Oh, I have to take Patho at Clayton this summer if I get into their program. So you're applying to Clayton too? I hope they offer the class online so I don't have to drive a hour there.

Good luck with your CNA class.

southerngrl412 · Feb 3, 2012

I have applied for nursing at west ga for summer 2012. Does anyone know if they do interviews at west ga?

motivatedmommy · Feb 3, 2012

i'm pretty sure there's no interview just gpa and teas scores.

karamarie91 · Feb 3, 2012

No, they do not do interviews. It's only grades and TEAS scores.

southerngrl412 · Feb 3, 2012

Do you know what the average teas score is for students who were accepted to their program?

karamarie91 · Feb 3, 2012

They said that as long as you have above an 80, you're considered competitive. And at most GA nursing schools, most competitive applicants have 80 or above.

JeannePCT · Mar 13, 2012

Anyone know when the acceptance / rejection letters should start going out? I am getting anxious!

southerngrl412 · Mar 22, 2012

They say April first but I have heard of them to send them out earlier than that. So let me know if you hear anything.