Health Unit Coordinator of PCT?

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Hi everyone! First time poster:)

I'll be starting my pre-reqs Jan 2007 :yelclap: and am looking for my first job in the healthcare field to gain some hospital experience. I'm thinking about applying for a 6 month program at a local college to either get a certification in health unit coordinator or patient care technician. Should I obtain the cert in HUC, or should I wait until after my first semester of nursing school, when I'll be able to obtain my CNA license? Is a health unit coordinator a good intro to the nursing field?

Any advice would be appreaciated!! Thanks:)

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I have worked as both a CNA and a unit secretary. They both have their benefits. As a unit secretary you will become familiar with the charts and MARS. As a CNA you will become comfortable interacting with patients and staff. Personally my suggestion would be for CNA, because I think the experience you get will be more valuable later on in nursing school. I will say that working as a CNA is VERY hard work b/c most (if not all) CNA's have to start out in LTC and that is back breaking work. Working as a CNA in the hospital is cool but you have to pay your dues to get there.

So,

1 vote CNA

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Also welcome to the site! :biggringi :balloons:

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Specializes in Med/Surg <1; Epic Certified <1.

A number of the students in my first semester of NS are either CNAs in LTC or patient care techs in hospitals....locally, you can get hired after completing a tech program through a hospital (usually a full-time 3 or 4-week program) and then work as a tech, or apply after you have completed your fundamentals (1st) semester....

The students I have talked to have mixed feelings on whether it was helpful or not to have this experience....several have said they felt "targeted" during checkouts or that there were higher expectations made of them...

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