Medical experience for applying to nursing schools

[munkyfusic]

Hey everyone, I'm about to start taking prerequisite classes for applying to nursing school next year. My school (Portland Community College) and many others that I've looked at give extra points for having some medical experience prior to applying. My top school doesn't *require* it explicitly, but their statistics show that 100% of the people who get accepted have some medical experience prior to applying. That being said, I'm wondering about what kinds of medical experience other people applying to nursing schools are getting? My school explicitly mentions LPN, CNA, EMT, and paramedics in one area, but then on the application it states that accepting medical experience is at the discretion of the admittance committee. 

Currently I'm working as a residential counselor in a licensed residential treatment facility for people who have traumatic brain injuries and severe, persistent mental illness. A lot of my job is medical in nature. I take vitals, handle medications, make notations of what people are eating and when, monitor them for changes in both physical and mental health (since they're often linked), and communicate with their service providers. Sometimes we help residents with personal grooming. I've compared this to the responsibilities of CNAs and there seems to be a ton of overlap, so, in my opinion, this job counts as medical experience. Obviously I should check with the nursing school and I will, but I'm curious in the meantime to know what other types of experience people have in the medical field. 

Thanks for reading! 

[guest874748]

oh wow, I just looked up portland's nursing program requirements and yeah, it'd be pretty hard to get in without prior healthcare experience. I noticed that like half of the health care experience points came from having a certification of some sort. What about a certified psychiatric technician? I think you just have to pass an exam for it vs becoming a CNA w/ 8 weeks + $1000

[westiecoast]

If PCC will count your experience, that's great. It does sound really similar to CNA work, which is what I did. I think they really like CNA work because you're working closely with nurses, plus it's way faster and cheaper than becoming an EMT or LPN. I did a CNA program that was full time for one month, cost about $900, and earned a ton of money while gaining experience. Lots of places will pay for your school if you stay with them for X amount of months. 

Good luck! :)