Getting a PCT job in NYC

[JennyFields]

Hello,

I have a question. I'm taking pre-requisites at the moment so that I can apply to ABSN programs (I have a BA and MA in English). I'm in Ohio right now, but I'm not impressed with their ABSNs. Plus, I want to use this as an opportunity to get out to the east coast. I was considering Philadelphia but think I'd rather get my education in New York. After my pre-requisites are done in Spring of 2013, I plan to move out to Brooklyn and work for a year in order to gain NY residency. I'm interesting in applying to SUNY Downstate. Hopefully with my stats--a 3.9 GPA in my BA and 4.0 so far in my pre-requisites--I'll get in.

Anyhow. I'm working in home health here in Ohio. I'm about to test for my CNA license, so I should be working as a PCT in a hospital by June. Over the next year, I intend to get my EKG and phlebotomy certs, as I understand that is what is required for PCTs in NYC (Ohio requires less).

My question is, a year from now, what would the chances be for a CNA with EKG and phlebotomy certifications and a year of hospital experience to be hired by a hospital in the NYC area? I know a hospital just recently closed, so other facilities are absorbing their employees which makes things tough right now. Do you think waiting a year and having at least one year of hospital experience would make enough of a difference?

Crunching the numbers, I feel like I can swings the high rent and other periphery costs of living in Brooklyn. I just need to feel confident that I'll be able to get a job that will at least keep me just around the poverty line instead of way below it or homeless. Is there much of a market for nursing home techs if necessary? I doubt I'd go back to home health just because of the unreliability. I just need work to get me through residency status and subsistence, and something to help support me part-time when I'm in nursing school. I come from poor Appalachian stock, so my standards are low. No roaches, a reliable toilet and I'm happy.

Thank you for any advice you can give.

[DoGoodThenGo]

Hello,

I have a question. I'm taking pre-requisites at the moment so that I can apply to ABSN programs (I have a BA and MA in English). I'm in Ohio right now, but I'm not impressed with their ABSNs. Plus, I want to use this as an opportunity to get out to the east coast. I was considering Philadelphia but think I'd rather get my education in New York. After my pre-requisites are done in Spring of 2013, I plan to move out to Brooklyn and work for a year in order to gain NY residency. I'm interesting in applying to SUNY Downstate. Hopefully with my stats--a 3.9 GPA in my BA and 4.0 so far in my pre-requisites--I'll get in.

Anyhow. I'm working in home health here in Ohio. I'm about to test for my CNA license, so I should be working as a PCT in a hospital by June. Over the next year, I intend to get my EKG and phlebotomy certs, as I understand that is what is required for PCTs in NYC (Ohio requires less).

My question is, a year from now, what would the chances be for a CNA with EKG and phlebotomy certifications and a year of hospital experience to be hired by a hospital in the NYC area? I know a hospital just recently closed, so other facilities are absorbing their employees which makes things tough right now. Do you think waiting a year and having at least one year of hospital experience would make enough of a difference?

Crunching the numbers, I feel like I can swings the high rent and other periphery costs of living in Brooklyn. I just need to feel confident that I’ll be able to get a job that will at least keep me just around the poverty line instead of way below it or homeless. Is there much of a market for nursing home techs if necessary? I doubt I’d go back to home health just because of the unreliability. I just need work to get me through residency status and subsistence, and something to help support me part-time when I’m in nursing school. I come from poor Appalachian stock, so my standards are low. No roaches, a reliable toilet and I’m happy.

Thank you for any advice you can give.

Peninsula hospital which shut down about a month ago brings the total to three hospitals that have closed in the past two years in NYC, and about five or six (cannot keep count) facilities that have closed over the past 7 or so years. You also have nursing homes/LTCs that are going through their own upheaval and closing or being purchased with new owners laying off staff. Yes, some places are picking up staff from these closed facilities, but not everyone has found full much less part time work and that includes CNAs.

As with nursing you have scores of local programs churning out CNAs like clock work and no one is hiring in nearly enough numbers to absorb them all.

There is a thread somewhere around here where local some local CNAs have posted their wages. That should give you a general idea of what is possible. Keep in mind one knows plenty of CNAs earning minimum wage or just above, and that is *NOT* going to allow you to live anywhere in NYC on your own.

Brooklyn is a great place to live, but there are cheap areas and inexpensive areas. You have to consider where you'll be living and if it's safe for a female to be traveling about all hours of the night (in case you work evenings or nights) by public transportation.