Clincals for CNA on Surgical Unit?!

[KaylaBrooke1695]

hello all!! so i passed my cna exam last week and now can go to clincals!! yay!!!!!!!!! now i can go to clincals. let me back track real quick. i'm 16 and in a magnet program to get my cna, anyway, today we went to the hospital for orientation. also, we all found out what units we will be on for our 40 hr week of clinicals and i am on the surgical unit! which i am so excited for and actually happy that i didn't get put in a different unit. i will be working with a cna and following him or her around, and assisting that person. surgical unit is a great unit to be on right? here are some questions i have:

- do you love the surgical unit?

- did it help you in your career path or help you want to be a nurse?

- what does a cna do on the surgical unit exactly? ( i know some but not a lot).

- it's probably one of the busiest units right?

anyway, i am so excited and finally got out of being discourged and i am thinking of nursing again:)

and i don't fo my clincals until june 18-22, 2012. i also hope i can apply for a job at the hospital as a cna in md, but i am 17 so i don't know if that would happen. however, they have internships where they gave it to a girl who was my age and said if we do well they will offer us a job.

anyhow, thanks for reading, commenting, and answering!

~kayla:bugeyes:

[loveu123]

I work as an RN on a surgical unit that also takes trauma patients.The kinds of things that you will se may be influenced by whether the hospital is a small one or a big teaching hospital. I am at a major teaching hospital. My unit is very busy. Our CNAs do a lot of vital signs,emptying of foleys, drains such as JP, blake, hemovacs and also helping to walk patients that are connected to a lot of drains and IV pumps. They do frequent vitals too because we have a lot of PCAs. I believe you will learn a lot on a surgical unit. Some of our CNAs are in nursing school and they say working on the unit is helpful to them.

[cjcsoon2bnp, MSN, RN, NP]

I'm an RN working in Psych currently (and I just accepted a Med/Surg position in a new hospital actually) but during nursing school I worked as a CNA on a Med/Surg floor and I felt that I definitely learned a lot while I was there. Keep in mind that every state has their own scope of practice for a CNA (as it does for nurses) and every facility has their own policies and procedures which will dictate the tasks that you will do as a CNA. On my unit I did the following: obtained vital signs, performed blood glucose testing, obtained EKGs, performing phlebotomy, assisted patients with ADLs (feeding, bathing, grooming, dressing), ambulated patients around the unit and emptying foley and ostomy bags (those are the major things.) If you can try to listen to the nurses you work with and offer to help whenever you can, this will really help when it comes time for nursing school. If you work on one floor regularly and show a good work ethic you will find that most nurses will really appreciate it and they will be happy to teach you things that are helpful in nursing school. If you can, try to find a job at the hospital you're doing clinicals at because you will have a better chance of getting a job there as a new CNA (otherwise you may have to get some experience in LTC first). Best of luck and let us know how your clinicals go!

!Chris