Has anyone volunteered as a Clinical Care Extender???

nikkisn · Aug 24, 2009

i wouldn't stress too much if i were you. they say acceptance is tight but from my experience they will accept you if you are really interested in a career in the medical field. i've been a cce for about 6 months and i love it! the time commitment is very small and you get to do a ton of stuff. in your interview they want to know that you can be assertive and take direction, so show it. they'll give you fake situations and have you tell how you would react. also, there is an essay question. mine had to do with the biggest problem facing the medical community today, so they are questions like that. don't stress it, remember to bring a pen and dress to impress! and don't forget how bad they need you, cce's do so much free work in the hospital, so it's really them that need you and not the other way around =). what town are you applying in? good luck!!

CGardi · Aug 25, 2009

I have been in the CCE program at Hoag in Newport Beach since May. Just like the previous poster said; they need you! We do so much work for free and the PCA's use us to their full advantage.

You do the essay in a big room with everyone, then they separate you into smaller groups for the "interview". They ask you questions they have and each person has to answer. Then some are specifically for just you. As long a you are seriously there to gain experience for a profession in the medical field and show that you are ready to take on the responsibility, you should be fine. It also depends on which hospital you are applying for too, I believe. We had a ton of UCI students, so it's probably more competitive.

The only conflict I am now going to have is I'm starting my first semester in the Nursing program and I may not be able to fit the 4 hour shifts into my schedule. It's a great program and it's definitely worth doing to have on your resume and to gain the onsite experience if you've never been exposed to the hospital environment.

GOOD LUCK!

nikkisn · Aug 25, 2009

i'm in the same boat. hoping i'll be able to finish the required year, even though i'll be in my first semester of nursing school. i'm afraid i might feel like my time is being wasted there when i could be studying or spending time with my family instead. one things for sure, no more extra shifts for me!

RN2BE1210 · Aug 25, 2009

What is a CCE? I'm not familiar with that term

nikkisn · Aug 26, 2009

it's a volunteer internship that they have at some hospitals in CA...maybe other states, not sure

twentysomething · Dec 12, 2010

hi everyone! I have an interview for this next week! I definitely NEED this opportunity! Can you tell me a little bit about it, are you able to take extra shifts a week (more than the four hours), and is the commitment for a year?

Careopag · Mar 20, 2011

Can someone give specific examples of questions theyve encountered on the interview?

xluescluesx · Mar 20, 2011

I was a CCE for about six months last year. Everyone I interviewed with got accepted. I don't think it's too hard to get in, they really need your help and you provide a lot of help to the nurses for free. Plus, they have a high dropout rate so they take on a lot of people.

twentysomething, yes you can take on more than 4 hours a week. At my hospital, once you signed up for your four hours, when the schedule came out you could sign up for as many empty shifts as you wanted, with up to 2 CCE's per shift allowed. This was easy, there is always extra shifts. They ask you commit for a year if you want the letter of recommendation, but it's not like you sign a contract. You can leave early if you want. What I didn't like was that they said it would be hard to write a letter if your department coordinator didn't really remember you so make sure you make an impression. I would have been angry if I worked all year and not gotten one because the coordinator didn't remember me from the other 50 volunteers.

careopag, I don't exactly remember the questions, it was over a year ago. It was really easy though. Really generic stuff like give me some examples of your strengths/weaknesses, how you would react in a scenario if you had a bunch of things to do and the nurse asked for your help. Stuff like that. All I suggest is to try to answer first because it's a group interview and if you go last then all the good answers get taken!