Hospital or LTC? Other options?

[supermo]

hi e'erbody!

:w00t: cnas rule!!:w00t:

i'm a cna. :rotfl:

anyway, i have only been a cna since nov 05 and i don't have much experience. i was wondering if some of you wonderful people could tell me about the differences between working in a hospital and ltc.

i have been working in an assisted living facility and it is pretty basic. i love my residents and my co-workers, but decided that this place is being run very poorly and i didn't want to be a part of it. sunday was my last day.

i decided that i really don't want to work in a skilled nursing facility type nursing home because of how my cna clinicals affected me. i don't think i have the emotional strength to deal with the utter sadness and despair that i saw in the nursing home.

point-->> should i try to get a job in one of the local hospitals? how is it different from ltc? i'm sure each department is dramatically different. i was offered positions in er and l/d at a small suburban hospital and was just kinda wondering what cnas do there. i think that the official title was unit secretary/na i, is that just a clerical position?

i'm just confused and want to decide something before school starts in the fall.

thank you!!

[jb2u, ASN, RN]

thank you, thank you, thanks you! your recommendations have pretty much sealed the idea to do hospital work vs LTC. do hospitals pay ANY basic benefits so i don't have to live off my spouse?

Depends on the type of position (FT,PT,PRN,etc.), but yes, hospitals have benefits.

[supermo]

Supermo:

Have you ever thought of working for a registry? It would allow you to try out different sections of a hospita as well as different positions that a CNA cna work in. I have never worked Long Term Care LTC so I don't know if it would be any different to SNF/AL. The job of CNA's is different in all the states so find out what is allowed for you to work and give it a shot. All the Best in your schooling.

I truly don't even know what my options are. I thought that home health and registry type stuff required more experience than I have. (5 months) :trout:

[SmileyCNAII]

I work in the ED at the local hospital. I LOVE it!!! I stock rooms, do vitals, transport patients, do EKG's, assist the nurses and doctors in procedures (I have seen some really cool things done such as lacerations sewed, boils I&D'd, intubations, I have done compressions on patients that have coded, etc). If you love the fast paced life, the ED is for you!! I work extremely hard most days, however we do get days where we are bored to death because we never know what will or won't walk in the door.

Enjoy life, it is the only one you will ever get!!!

[casi, ASN, RN]

I truly don't even know what my options are. I thought that home health and registry type stuff required more experience than I have. (5 months) :trout:

From what I have seen of home health is it depends on the company. It seems that most good companies look for at least a year of experience, but I've seen them require anywhere from 1-2 years depending on the company. Registry jobs all seem to want the same. This also might vary on the state and what HHAs legally can and can't do.

Although one of the local companies claims no experience necissary. They'll train their PCA's. Their pay is absolutely horrible. Minnesota State job site allows people to post resumes and if employers are intrested they'll call. I was looking at changing jobs so I had my resume posted. Needless to say I got a call from this company. No "Would you like to come in for an interview." instead I got "Want to come in for orientation?" I was able to talk startting pay out of her and it was $8.50. I declined the offer.

Also if you're not interested in LTC look into something like a transitional care unit or possibly subacute for those people who've just been discharged from the hospital and aren't quite ready to go home yet. There are some freestanding TCUs otherwise a lot of larger nursing homes have TCU units.