anybody here work at Christ hospital or Palos hospital?...

Snickerdoodles · Nov 15, 2008

Mental Health techs need a BA. You can work at Palos as a CNA in the psych unit. I have a friend who works as an RN in the psych unit at Palos. As for whoever hanging up on you I can say I agree with her on that one! Sorry but once you start working in the medical field you will totally understand! I work as a unit secretary and we get people calling all the time for info on everything. Like if they have tachycardia should they go to the ER? And if you tell them no and they have a heart attack then they sue you for telling them not to go.

She probably could have took 2 seconds to tell u though. Its not like shed be liable for giving out health info. I wouldnt bother getting a BA in psych I have 2 friends who did. One is going back to get her Masters and the other to get her nursing degree. You cant do much with a BA in psych and it only pays like 14/hr. Plus if you get your RN and dont like psych you can switch to another field. Good Luck!

yuyu75 · Nov 15, 2008

Thanks for the reply but I would like to say a few things Snickerdoodles, I have had a hell of a time finding out what I need for a mental health tech at palos/christ hospital. Yes i have googled, researched, emailed etc and i get totally different answers. I am raising 2 kids, I don't have room for error (with time or money) and so i didn't want to spend the time and money on a 2 year bachelor degree then work along side someone who took a $650 5 week CNA course that is doing the same work I am. I asked this nurse at palos, very politely what I needed, I figured she works on the unit, she knows. It WOULD HAVE TAKEN HER 3 SECONDS to tell me, yes we have CNA's and also MHT who need Bach. degree...thanks bye. That is all I needed. It took her LONGER to be rude to me...and Iam sorry, but that is where I disagree with you! I am trying to better myself for my children, I am also in the fight of my life, which I don't want to get into because i don't want sympathy, but by that nurse being so rude to me, I literally cried all day. I feel when you work with the public, especially as a nurse, you need to treat everyone with some respect. Who knows, I may one day work alongside this particular person and be her right hand man (woman), because my heart and soul is in mental health. She was once in my shoes and should have remembered that. Please, I am not yelling at you, I just feel this world needs to stop and have compassion for other people, especially other people trying to get into the same field. Half the reason why I am scared to go into nursing is because I will run into rude people such as her.

On the other hand, I appreciate your 2 cents and am grateful for it. Actually after you telling me about your friends and the Bach. degree I decided I will not pursue that. I will most likely get my CNA and hopefully work as a CNA (hopefully at palos) in the psych unit while going to nursing school.

I really did not mean to come off mean to you and I am sorry if I just did. I know you nurses have to put up with a lot of crap and are very busy, but we all have to start somewhere, just like you veteren nurses did. I want to make sure I am making the right choices and decisions. You said your friend works as an RN at palos in psych, can you possible get some answers for me? Maybe see what the CNA's do as opposed to MHT's. Also, I am taking a 5 week CNA course and would like to apply at palos, do they frequently hire psych cna's?

Thank you

Snickerdoodles · Nov 16, 2008

Well at that note if you would have read my post I was pretty much on your side. I said she could have taken 2 sec to tell you but I wanted you to understand that she has a job to do too. What about a little compassion for her?? Shes just a working woman trying to do her job. BTW she was not a nurse she was a unit secretary, high school diploma, making max 12/hr. So she is just like you trying to make it in this world. She might not even know what the requirements are either. Maybe you should have e-mailed someone off the contacts list at the hospital to find the answers. It is very busy at the hospital and like I said we can't answer everyones questions when they call. Wouldnt you be mad if one of your kids was waiting for his breathing treatment or tylenol for his fever and your nurse was chatting away about what kind of schooling she had? You need to remember to have the same respect you want for everyone else. Especially if you go into psych because some of those patients will love you and some will call you every single name in the book, and threaten you, and everything else. So good luck finding the answer to your question. You get more flies with honey.....

yuyu75 · Nov 16, 2008

Ok, Ok,....truce.. Please I don't want any enemies here. You are right, she was probably busy and I should not have taken it personally. I am just so frustrated! I have been a stay at home mom for 8 years and I am scared I will be making the wrong decision. To claify, it was a nurse, the secretary transferred me to her. And the comment "more flies with honey"...that was my whole point. I was so nice to her, and she came off so rudely. but please accept my apologies Snickerdoodles, I am sorry if I came off rude TO YOU because I am not that kind of person. Lets start over...

I want to get into nursing, mental heatlh. I am scared of course, but I think I will do it one step at a time. I am thinking of actually becoming a LPN first, because I know alot of mental health and addiction facilities use LPN's. What are your thoughts? Do you know of any LPN programs in the Oak Lawn, Chicago area? Are you a CNA or have you been a CNA? Can you tell me anything about what they do on the psych floor? What about becoming an LPN, do you think that is a good way to go? Maybe gain some experience as an LPN, gain employment, then go for RN when I am ready.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Again, I am sorry, and I don't want to get off on the wrong foot with you......I hope I will hear from you soon. I have to learn, especially if I want to be a nurse to get a little more backbone and thicker skin!! Thanks

Snickerdoodles · Nov 17, 2008

Ok. Im laughing now because I wouldnt be surprised if it was my friend that you talked to! :argue: I'm not so sure about going to soley get your LPN. If you decide to switch fields you may have a hard time. Nursing homes, agencies, and some dialysis places hire LPNs and thats it. I keep hearing that hospitals are starting to hire LPNs more but I have yet to hear of a specific hospital that does. That may be another post to start? I am currently a CNA. I will have my LPN in about a month. I have worked for 5 years as a CNA/unit clerk/tele tech. You will have more options with a RN and a few more dollars an hour. Olympia college just across the border in Indiana does LPN. They are not called olympia anymore. I forget the new name. I also noticed the girls who transfer in to an RN program as an LPN have to go for 3 semesters. I only have 2 after this, so that may be another reason not to do that. Joliet Jr has a LPN program too. Not sure where you are in district. So Sub? Its hard work to get through nursing school, there are alot of girls with kids and families in the program with me. Not to sound like a jerk but if you are having problems now trying to research schools imagine how hard it will be to go to school. I have atleast 1 five page paper every week, plus time in class, online research, studying for tests, etc. It is very different that taking an english or math class. I was really surprised at the fact that I cant work full time because there really is soooo much to do and learn. Not trying to discourage you but I just want you to know. Jeez im writing a book here....... i work at silver and on thier psych floor they are there for a couple weeks to see if thet get cleared to either go home or go to a long term facility. The cna's generally sit for suicide pts and other general cna duties that you would do on any other floor. the mental health techs do about the same but they also do group therapy and get more involved with therapy. thats about all i know about psych units. I have worked there a couple times and thats about it. Im sure its a little different every where. I would definately go get your CNA and work for a while to see if its really what you want to do. I always thought I wanted to do psych to but I dont like working on the psych unit! It depends on what you like about it. You can be an RN and get a certificate to do rape investigations in ER. That would be really hard for me, you might spend 4 hours with a 10 year old girl who was raped just to get a name because shes so upset. Then another 6 hours documenting every bruise scratch and hair on her. They have to get samples of everything and pay alot of attention to detail because this info will probably be used in court. But if you can do it thats great, and it pays very well. Feel free to e-mail me if you need anything else. there are so many options in health care in general. good luck, and i hope that helps. time for bed, i have class early.