CNA working in hospital Questions!

ChristineN, BSN, RN · Jul 24, 2008

Lots of people get jobs as CNA's/PCT's in hospitals without prior pt care experience. I would suggest just applying for any job openings you see that appeal to you and see what happens.

Shan25 · Jul 24, 2008

I start my job in a hospital on Monday. I got it right after passing my state exam. I cannot compare working in a hospital to working in a LTC facility because I did my clinical in the hospital.

Katie89 · Jul 24, 2008

I'm in the middle of orientation at a hospital, and this is my first CNA job. I did my clinicals in a nursing home, and there is a big difference. In LTC, there is a lot more "heavy duty" patient contact. In a hospital it's more focused on things like taking sets of vitals, hooking up monitors, admits/discharges, taking blood sugars, etc.

A lot of times, hospitals want you to have prior CNA experience at a nursing home, but there are plenty who will hire you without. It depends largely on the hospital's need at the time of your application. If they have a ton of applicants, they'll be more likely to pick somebody with experience as long as they've got the choice. Check the hospital's policy; some require a certain amount of CNA experience, others don't. Good luck, it's definitely a possiblity at least!

cheizy · Jul 25, 2008

what hours do CNA's have @the hospital? =]

rancelumsden · Jul 25, 2008

Katie89 gave you a good answer. LTC and hospital are totally different. You will learn how to connect/disconnect people from draininage, monitors, scd's. You'll fetch items to/from lab. You'll be fetching machinery such as IV's and setting up rooms for new patients as well as taking out equipment at discharge. Lots of vitals (I did 2 full sets per shift plus monitoring of others as needed, especially post-op). I was also trained on EKG's and did them regularly.

I've posted before that if you're confortable with learning many skills and especially computers (everything had to be computer entered), the hospital will be a good challenge. Those who are afraid of machinery and learning computer software will not last.

LTC is primarily transfers, toileting, bathing, feeding, heavy patient care. You actually do far less one-on-one patient care in hospital. You DO bed baths, make beds, change people, transfer, but that's only a small portion of the job rather than THE job.

It's also far more fast paced --- not more 'difficult', faster paced. Priorities change constantly, on a minute-for-minute basis. We had high room turnover --- you HAD to get a room ready after patient discharge and set up for intake right away. Monitoring HAD to be done for certain paitients on a regular basis from post op --- but who came from post-op constantly changed.

As far as hours, no different than LTC. Worked every other weekend, some people did 12 hour shifts, some 8. You worked a number of holidays. I did not see any difference, as a generalization, in work hours between the two. Actual scheduling, of course, depends on your institution itself. But really no difference between LTC and hospital --- they're both 24/7 operations.

mzjennx, BSN, RN · Jul 25, 2008

Hi there. I became a CNA in July and the first job I could get was at a LTC by October. It was a good job, but not for me. So I applied at a hospital by January and was working by May. The hospital knew I was a nursing student and waited to train me till I was on my summer break.

The only problems I had was the state of Hawaii would not renew my CNA since I was not working in a Skilled Nursing Facility. I dont know what that means, but I ended up quitting since because nursing school got harder and I wanted to focus in my nursing education.

rockytopRN2b · Jul 26, 2008

I got a hospital job as a new CNA graduate, and so did a lot of others in my class. One of the major teaching hospitals in our area recruited from the CNA program and most of us with no prior experience were hired into the float pool so we got experience in all floors of the hospital.

I remember my CNA instructor actually commenting that if it was your ultimate goal to work in a hospital, it was better NOT to have LTC experience, as the jobs were very different, and that it was harder to get hired by a hospital with a strong LTC background because of it.

I have never worked in LTC myself, but we did a lot of our clinicals there and I think LTC was definitely harder. The majority were total care patients, and that isn't usually the case in the hospital.

NurseCubanitaRN2b, BSN, RN · Aug 1, 2008

My very 1st CNA job was in the LTC and then I moved to the Sub-acute unit in that same facility. The Sub-acute is more like a med-surg floor in the hospital. It's a great way to gain experience as a CNA.

Most hospitals want experience in the LTC facility before they will hire you. You would need at least 6 months experience. At least that's what the application says, but I would apply for a hospital position anyway because it all depends on the hospital and how badly they need the CNA. I've seen people fresh out of CNA school hired at the hospital where I work at. To be honest, IMO, I don't feel you really need the LTC experience because they will orient you on the job anyway. Good Luck

stelon · Aug 5, 2008

My first and current job as a CNA is at the local hospital. In my area the community college I go to offered a class designed to prepare CNAs for acute care opposed to LTC. The class was actually designed based on what this hospital wanted in their CNAs, so once I finished that class it was easy getting a job at the hospital.

Of course I was still super excited when they called me--I had my CNA clinicals in a nursing home and really have no desire to go back.

rancelumsden · Aug 5, 2008

..... In my area the community college I go to offered a class designed to prepare CNAs for acute care opposed to LTC. The class was actually designed based on what this hospital wanted in their CNAs, so once I finished that class it was easy getting a job at the hospital......

Now that was nice! I've not heard of this kind of program before. The thing is, as I'm sure everyone knows, there are far more jobs in LTC than hospital.

I was in hospital too --- med-surg/oncology. Liked that --- did not like LTC either but there were things to learn and experience in both environments.

rockytopRN2b · Aug 5, 2008

Now that was nice! I've not heard of this kind of program before. The thing is, as I'm sure everyone knows, there are far more jobs in LTC than hospital.
I was in hospital too --- med-surg/oncology. Liked that --- did not like LTC either but there were things to learn and experience in both environments.

The Red Cross program I did actually catered to both. We had clinicals in both LTC and acute care.