Anyone a COPE Clinical Care Extender?

U.S.A. California

Published

Hi there,

I am looking into volunteering in the COPE Clinical Care Extender program in Southern California. If you could help answer a few questions, that would be great!

1. How hard is it to get into volunteering for this opportunity? (I do not have ANY healthcare experience. At most, I'm taking my first nursing pre-requisite class.)

2. What hospital did you or do you volunteer at? What kind of experiences did/do you have?

I'm starting to prepare myself for a 2nd career in the healthcare industry (possibly nursing but I'm not sure yet). I already have a bachelor's degree and hope to volunteer at a hospital to get me better exposure at what healthcare professionals do.

Thanks so much for your time!

This is my 3rd attempt to post to this thread! I made 2 really great posts, but everytime I post, my connection crashes! *crosses fingers*

CCE is a really great program! To address the interview process, I was an interviewer. My suggestion, try to be the first one to answer the question. Remember, you're in a room with maybe 2-3 other applicants. Most of the questions kind of generate the same response from the applicants. I've sat in interviews where the answers were similar to the first one who answered. The first one who answered was usually the one accepted. I've turned down applicants before. I was looking for a person who really, really wanted the clinical experience, and who wouldn't be afraid to touch patients. YOU WILL TOUCH PATIENTS! You will clean BMs, empty urinals, do diaper changes. That exposures really cements whether or not you really want to be in the hospital setting. You will experience all sorts of sights, smells, and maybe even tastes if you're not careful! lol. Anyway, this is shorter and less detailed than my previous attempts, but good luck! Feel free to PM me if you need more info.

I have my interview in august...

So what exactly do you do?

Can you request a certain department?

Do they train you in anything to maybe be hired after a while as a tech?

I'm SOOOOO excited!!! Wooo one small step for me one huge step for my nursing career...

Specializes in LDRP.

I highly HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend doing Cope's CCE volunteer program! :yeah:

I was a CCE from 2006-2008 at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, CA while doing my undergrad studies, and it was such an amazing experience. I'm not sure how competitive the program is these days, but around the time when I started, everyone who showed enthusiasm for the position and a genuine interest in pursuing a healthcare-related career was accepted to attend training and take the test.

The training was a bit long, but overall I was glad with how thorough they were. I learned a lot about what to expect and what my duties would be once I started. After having paid attention during the training and looking over the packet a few times, the test seemed pretty easy to pass.

In my particular CCE program, everyone had to complete their first rotation on the med/surg floor, and then for our following rotations, we had our choice of L&D, ER, OR, or Med/Surg again. They later added on more units, but that was what was available while I was volunteering, and I did a rotation in each of the four.

My CCE Experiences:

- Basic patient care duties including: bathing patients, changing patients, changing linens and making beds, feeding patients who couldn't feed themselves, fetching water and juice for patients, answering call lights (and relaying messages to the patient's nurse if necessary), delivering food trays, etc.

- Transporting patients: I did A LOT of this, whether it was transferring patients from one room to another or transporting discharged patients in wheelchairs from their hospital room to the hospital entrance to be picked up

- Talking to patients: Inevitably there would be slow shifts (especially on med/surg at night) and I would just walk around and chat with patients, esp. those that seemed lonely or particularly outgoing. The older med/surg patients seemed especially happy to have someone to talk to and share stories with.

- In L&D: I was allowed to observe a few C-sections and some lady partsl deliveries. I even helped hold one of the mothers' legs while she was pushing. Most mothers were receptive to allowing volunteers to watch, but I am female, so I'm not sure if the male CCEs had the same opportunities.

- In the OR: I observed many surgeries including a total hip replacement, lymph node biopsies, ACL repairs, breast reduction, and a total hysterectomy. This rotation was amazing and there was a great RN who helped get me in to see some cool surgeries. However, the OR was also very intimidating and I had to be very careful to remember all of the rules and sterile procedures.

- In the ER (my FAVORITE rotation): I saw SO much in the ER, from the intense to the mundane. I saw car crash victims, a lot of homeless people, a woman in labor (like the baby was already crowning) who had to be rushed to L&D, a lot of children who had suffered falls, etc. brought in by overly worried parents, a lot of open gashes and stitches, a gun shot wound to the head (the outcome was very tragic, but it was an amazing learning experience and one I won't soon forget), etc. There was also a particular doctor who always allowed me to shadow him as he did his rounds to see his patients. Doctors would explain X-rays to us, and sometimes we were allowed to go with patients who needed CT scans and the CT tech was more than happy to explain the images to us.

My advice is to be ASSERTIVE and dig in! Offer to do the dirty work, like changing patients, and the nurses will love you and in return, let you shadow them or make sure you get to observe interesting procedures. Be very respectful of all the hospital employees - don't be above helping Housekeeping clean up messes. Don't do anything outside the scope of your volunteer duties - a lot of the nurses don't necessarily know what you are and are not allowed to do. Chat up the techs and orderlies - I bonded with one of the ER techs and he let me put the EKG leads on all of his female patients.

My CCE experience taught me SO much, and, most importantly, showed me that I can handle and will enjoy my future healthcare career. :nurse:

I know this is a pretty old topic but I see there are new posts... so I have a question for those that have volunteered. It really does sound like a great opportunity and would definitely help me when I apply to transfer into the Nursing program at my university for my junior year (I'm an incoming freshman right now.) However, on the website it says that we must serve a minimum of one, four-hour shift each week. Would you happen to know if that is strictly enforced? Would I be able to do a double shift one week to make up for my absence? I'd really like to partake in this but I'm just a little concerned because during the holidays I may not be in the area since my hometown is about an hour away from the university... Thanks in advance! :D

Chireiyu

that is perfectly fine! Yes that is true, 1 4hr shift per week. I volunteer at Barlow Hospital next to dodger stadium. Sometimes things come up and the coordinators are very understanding (or at least they should be) Once everyone has signed up for at least a shift a week you can sign up for more shifts. Some people sign up a 4 hr shift everyday or 2 shifts a day (thats 8 hrs!) Depending what department you work at, it can be a slow day or intense day. E.g. Emergency Department, respiratory, ICU. GOODLUCK! it's a great program to begin with. Although there are interviews, tests, TB shots, etc. at the end it's all worth it!

Specializes in LDRP.

Chireiyu,

As long as it won't be a constant or common thing, you should be fine, especially if you make up for the week that you missed a shift with an 8 hour shift during another week. Talk to the CCE in charge of your department ahead of time to make sure. I was in a similar situation when I was an undergrad and would occasionally take a week off during Christmas break, but I did often make the 2 hour drive from home to my shift at the hospital where I volunteered as a CCE while on vacation from school.

Being a CCE is such a great opportunity, but also a big commitment. Make sure you have the time and dedication needed to complete this program.

Good luck, and enjoy the program! :D

Hi!

Thanks all for the posts! I had one question: could you do a double-shift and fulfill the 1 year requirement in 6 months?

Just curious!

I apologize for the extremely late reply! I was on vacation with my family and there was no internet~! But thank you so much atticus27 and H0pefulStdnt. I'll definitely talk to my CCE coordinator if the need arises. It seems like a really amazing program and I'm quite excited, though my interview is still about a month away!

Just one last question. Are the Orientation days consecutive? I know I read on the site it's usually on weekends, but it's a 3-day thing so does that mean it's Saturday, Sunday, and then a Saturday/Sunday the following week? Or did they mean Friday? I'm just a little concerned about that since my classes on Friday don't end until around 2 and I don't want to miss Orientation (because that means I can't get in the program!) Thank you!

well I finally got my interview on dec 5 I was supposed to go a long while back but work wasn't forgiving on time so... But my question is how long will it take to receive the email?

Would it be silly or pointless to volunteer if I've already got my CNA? I'm seeing alot of CNA jobs that require 6 months of hospital experience, so would being a COPE volunteer help with getting that hospital experience?

Thanks,

Michelle

Ya with the things they say you will do that will deffinately be direct patient care... I say go for it! It can't possibly hurt. After the program you are eligible for "direct hire".

I wonder if anyone has ever been hired as a nurse after or while serving as a CCE? I will be starting soon, and really love the hospital that I'm at. I know nothing is guaranteed, but I was really just wondering if anyone has ever been offered a job as nurse through their CCE work?

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