CNA's moving form LTC to Acute Care

mikejjmay · Nov 18, 2009

no one?

TampaTech · Nov 20, 2009

I never was in LTC thank frikin god. I know there are lots of people that love it but will NEVER do it. I work at a hospital, you get extra training and are usually labeled as a tech. My position is called Patient Support Tech. Meaning that I am certified to work the floor as a patient care tech, I also can be a unit secretary and I am a monitor tech. So those three combined you become a PST in my hospital system. :) Good luck and I am sure that you will love acute care!

ctmed · Nov 20, 2009

I actually started off in a hospital my first job as a CNA. After I quit that I went agency. Working agency, I have had to go back and do huge variety of facilities including LTC.

Yes, you are still a CNA in acute care. But, I have found most of the places you get treated a bit better, the patient load is better, and some places actually allow you to do actual "nurse-like" things like accuchecks and assisting with bandage changes.

Acute care can keep some of those 1:1s, though. It is almost like some form of torture to be trapped in a room with some dementia patient who wants to rip out all IVs and foleys for 8-12 hours because restraining them would be "inhumane". What about me? Sometimes you have to plead with someone just to give me a bathroom break :)

Congrats, though. You learn alot more in the acute setting. It also allows you to work other places because some actually require the hospital experience to work there.

work&play · Nov 22, 2009

I'm still waiting for an answer to your question.

For those of us who aren't as lucky to land a first jab at an Acute Care, what does it take?

TampaTech · Nov 22, 2009

What do you mean what does it take. In a hospital system you have to bug the nursing recruiters and make sure that they know your name. They get hundreds of applications a week and they dont have time to pick through evey single one of them. Its not like LTC where you put an app in and then they will call you back. No way! You have to be proactive about this. I have never worked in LTC and will probably never do it either. But thats irregardless. Just do what I said. Keep on applying and call the human resources or recruiters and bug them.

ctmed · Nov 22, 2009

I'm still waiting for an answer to your question.
For those of us who aren't as lucky to land a first jab at an Acute Care, what does it take?

Try agency. Although some require a years hospital to get on thier list, some do not. Most of these places send to a variety of places including hospitals, psych units, LTAC, and hospice. Avoid the agencies that do 8 hour home health or assisted living because IMO, they have those folks do things that are more in line with a cheap-payed maid or butler and it does nothing for your resume. Even if you do a hospital only 1 week for an agency during your tenure with them, on a resume it does count as verifiable contiguous hospital experience.

I lucked up because I had just finished CNA right before Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and wound up in a huge job fair for Katrina evacuees in Mississippi. From what I hear, a first job in a hospital is kind of rare, but not impossible with agency.

Your location also influences this. You have much more option near a large metro area than the sticks. Be willing to travel a bit uncompensated for gas if need be.

But, just make sure to keep a second job or multiple agencies because agency has ups and downs and has thier "favorites" list. Also, be willing to call agencies in other nearby cities as slow time in one place is not slow time in another.

work&play · Nov 22, 2009

A friend of mine asked that question and I didn't know what to say. Thanks for the info.

I would probably never take a job at a hospital. I work at a county jail and LOVE my job.

ctmed · Nov 22, 2009

A friend of mine asked that question and I didn't know what to say. Thanks for the info.
I would probably never take a job at a hospital. I work at a county jail and LOVE my job.

Yeah, the problem is the hospitals have maybe 1-2 CNAs per floor and float them or cancel them when census levels get low. The CNA is always the first to go home. For this reason they do not have very many openings. Combine that with the fact that "every" CNA wants to go to the hospital because it is IMO, a bit easier work than LTC, you end up with a huge flood of applicants.

Jail job sounds awesome. No families, no stress... and I do not think the jail is as adverse to restraints/ seclusion if one of the patients gets rowdy and starts hitting the staff.

TampaTech · Nov 22, 2009

Now that might be somewhere I would work as well is the Jail. I would only do it part time and all but I think that it would be cool to do. An no they dont always have 1-2 CNAS per floor and cancall them all the time. My old floor had 4 CNA's at night and they were never the first ones to go. So it all depends on where you work and all. But I live in Florida and there are always plenty of old people or stupid people getting sick or hurt for us to have a job.

ctmed · Nov 22, 2009

Now that might be somewhere I would work as well is the Jail. I would only do it part time and all but I think that it would be cool to do. An no they dont always have 1-2 CNAS per floor and cancall them all the time. My old floor had 4 CNA's at night and they were never the first ones to go. So it all depends on where you work and all. But I live in Florida and there are always plenty of old people or stupid people getting sick or hurt for us to have a job.

Interesting.. that one on-staff hospital job I had, they were always pulling me and sending me home. They would move from 1/4 capacity to packed and folks stuck in ER waiting for beds with every weather change, though. Agency, I do not see that as much because I go to way too many different places.

I guess it does indeed, depend on area and facility.

work&play · Nov 22, 2009

That's why I LOVE my job in a county jail because I don't deal with that stuff. You work when you're scheduled, and if you want overtime- is there.

I started as a volunteer at a county clinic. They offer me a cna position there. I had to decline because I wasn't certified.

I recently became certified and used that volunteered experience and got the position.

You don't deal with mad nurses, family members and having to get cancelled.