Best hospital dept. for a nurse assistant / student?

LIZPICURN · May 30, 2006

I started out as a pt. care assistant while I was in nursing school. I knew I wanted to work with children-which also can be limiting on what kind of procedures you can help with. I know the adult world is much different though. The ER was really good for me. If I was in triage helping out I learned important assessment skills from the triage RN's. Also got good on lab draws, EkG's and just saw some interesting things. Good LUCK!

babybusterbrown · May 30, 2006

I started out as a pt. care assistant while I was in nursing school. I knew I wanted to work with children-which also can be limiting on what kind of procedures you can help with. I know the adult world is much different though. The ER was really good for me. If I was in triage helping out I learned important assessment skills from the triage RN's. Also got good on lab draws, EkG's and just saw some interesting things. Good LUCK!

Thanks for the input, LIZPICURN.

ER is one area I am considering long-term. I admit I was intimidated by many posts on other threads not advising ER for new grads and figured a student might fall into the same category. Available Nursing Assistant positons seem to be predominantly geared towards CICU, Cardiac Telemetry, Med-Surg, Neurology departments. Have thought about doing some volunteer work at a local children's hospital to get exposure in that area to supplement school rotation.

Babybusterbrown

jcarew · May 30, 2006

Hi,

I just started as a student nurse extern in the ER. I believe that ICU or ER would be the best depts. These two have a variety of patients. Especially ER, from colds, MI, car accidents, to cancer. I am hoping the wide variety will prepare me for my last year in school and with the NCLEX.

babybusterbrown · May 31, 2006

Thanks jcarew for weighing in with your opinion.

I know positions are open in ICU depts and hopeful that ER might be a possibility for me.

So far, 2 Votes for ER...

BabyBusterBrown

Daytonite, BSN, RN · May 31, 2006

if you are interested in eventually working in er, cicu, cardiac telemetry, med-surg then i would take one of those positions. it will be a good education for you to see what goes on in these areas and help you decide if that is where you will want to work after finishing nursing school. as a nursing assistant you are not going to be able to do any of the really "good stuff" that the licensed nurses get to do, but you will see plenty. you'll get to see how different nurses handle different situations. the good thing is you can go home at the end of your shift and not have to take home the same burden of responsibility (at least not yet!) that the licensed people do. in the intensive care areas you will learn to work around all the technical equipment and you will be doing a lot of the basic nursing care for the patients while the rns are busy doing ivs, medications and taking care of the technical equipment.

babybusterbrown · May 31, 2006

Thanks Daytonite for the input.

I discussed the possiblities with one of my clinical instructors and she had worked in ER for this hospital as a student and post-RN graduation. She loved it but thought they may have changed their policty towards hiring nursing assistants for exclusive ER use (but would float them from other depts as needed). I knew I would not be in a position to do the "good stuff" in the other departments but figured I could learn from observing nurses in action and integrate accordingly as I progress through clinicals. One of my fellow students just transferred out of Telemetry after 1 year into L&D (her preferred choice); indicated high turnover in that dept but did not elaborate why. The hospital does a lot of heart surgeries so I am leaning towards one of the Cardio-flavored depts if lucky enough to be given a choice.

BabyBusterBrown

grapejuice01 · May 31, 2006

I recommend talking to the nurse recruiter at the hospital you're interested in about nursing externships. They give you more of an opportunity to practice your skills and (at least at my hosp) they pay more than a PCT/CNA position.