Applying for CNA Position: Adolescent or Adult?

[CarVsTree]

Hi all,

I have an interview Wednesday for a CNA on the evening shift of an inpatient pscych. unit. They have openings on both the adult and adolescent units. I am currently reaching the end of my 1st semester of an ADN program. I have never worked with psych pts. before. I'm very good with calming agitated dementia patients, but have no real experience with other types of psych pts.

Any advice on which area is best for someone just starting out. I am 37yo. I have no idea if psych is an area of nursing I would like to go into. I imagine, no matter what I decide the experience will be invaluable.

TIA.

[suzanne4, RN]

I personally would go with the adults, if a choice between the two.

[lucianne]

Unless you have some experience with adolescents you might like adults better, especially for your first psych job. I like kids and adolescents better, but before I started working in psych I spent years working with kids in various volunteer capacities. The best thing would be for you to spend some time on each unit to see where you fit in best and which appeals to you the most. Our unit has potential hires come and spending a shift observing to see if they think they could handle the job (and we observe how they react to different situations).

good luck with your interview

luci

[Nurse Ratched, RN]

At 32, it frustrates me to work with the adolescents. (It makes me feel old to think to myself, "when I was that age, I would have NEVER mouthed off at my elders....hey.....I'm their ELDER....OMG.....where are my walker and orthopedic shoes???")

That's just me . Try it - some people love the adolescent population. The unit rules tend to be even stricter with kids than they are with adults re: dress/behavior/privileges. If you like a very structured environment, that's the place to me. The worst part about the adolescent psych is that so few of them fell very far from the tree on the unit I worked, so you frequently get to deal with very Jerry-Springer-esque situations as regards the parents.

[PRNMEDS]

I work mostly with Adolescents. Before starting I would never have imagined I would like it. I think Adults is generaly less demanding. However, with kids the rules are more set in stone, so if you are a bit rigid you may like the kids better. Overall I think all things being equal you are better off starting with adults.