Yarra

YAY! Congratulations! I KNOW how much it sucks waiting to hear back about a job. I usually end up with no fingernails by the time they call!! :smiley_aa

I work noc at local hospital. 50 bed med/surg, mostly elderly awaiting LTC admission, or there from LTC for surgery. I would say 75% Elderly/LTC/HH and 25% middle age surgical pts. We have two aids at night. So one aid to 25 pts. Sometimes, if we are lucky, they will call in an agency aid when we have a full floor. All total care and NPO baths are done then. vitals q4h, i's and o's. Room Maint. ie: Trash, all linens, sharps containers, etc. That's the schedualed stuff. You would THINK that people would sleep at night, but NO! Call lights work just as well at 3am as they do at 3pm! lol

As I had told you in a previous post of yours... ...it depends on the facility you are looking into working for. Here in Texas, I easily got a job at the local hospital, with NO Nurse Aid experience. There are NA's at my hospital that are not certified and have no intention of being so. They are payed less. Yes. You really should take your questions to nurses within your local community. It varies from state to state, city to city, facility to facility. Find someplace you want to work, call their HR department. Ask THEM if they require certification in order to work there as an NA. If they say yes, ask THEM where would be a good place to acquire the education in YOUR area. I feel as though asking your questions here has gotten all the answers possible. People continually advise you the same thing. "Talk to your school counselor, nurses, hospitals, Nursing homes in your area" etc. I bet you would find better answers to your specific questions if you heeded this advice. :) Good luck!

Here in Texas, you can work in a hospital as a nurses aid/assistant with no training required. Granted, this is the more difficult way to go, it is the way I chose. You learn a lot, and feel a bit overwhelmed at times, but you don't have to fork over the money for schooling. The only schooling you should be looking at actually paying for, in the way of nursing assistants, is a CNA program. If something is offered, that doesn't guarantee it will prepare you to take the state board so you can be a Certified Nurses Aid/Assistant, I would be leery of it. Where I live in Texas, you can easily work at a hospital or nursing home as an NA (nursing aid/assistant) and then get your CNA coursework FOR FREE at participating nursing homes in the area. I would look into your options. Are you planing on nursing school? Do the hospitals and other facilities in your area REQUIRE you to be certified? If not, I wouldn't waste your money on it if you plan on going to nursing school. Work as a regular NA, and get your RN or LPN/LVN as soon as you can.

I am not sure of your relationship with this patient, or i this patient might get on your last nerve. But if I EVER found out a nurse had callede me a Beached Whale, you bet I would make some heads roll. I can't believe you would refer to someone in this context. It disgusts me.:angryfire Possibly because I am a 400 lb NON-beached whale who recently lost 150lbs. But still. This makes me sick. It's not enough that I have to convince myself that people are NOT looking and talking about me in degrading ways. Now I have to actually see what people who supposedly have my Health in their hands MIGHT be saying about me. What ever happend to compassion.

All I can think about it getting splinters from the popsicle stick! REGARDLESS of the duct tape!

What has me confused are the people that take great precautions to wipe, disinfect, bleach, their shoes which they remove outside, in the garage or a mudroom. I understand that shoes might as well be the most contaminated thing to come out of a hospital while be worn by a healthcare worker. But what about your drive home? Can't those micro-organism live on your brake/gas/clutch petal or floor mat as easily and as long as they could in your carpet? So, when you get in your car with your flip flops, or other shoes, aren't you contaminating those by simply operating the pedals? Just a thought, I could be way off here.

Ok, now this is getting scary. :uhoh21:

Mom? Is that you?? :roll My mom said the EXACT SAME THING to me when I moved back to Texas from the East Coast. How funny! I am serious, the EXACT SAME THING. She is a notorious shade parker! No matter that we now have to walk in blazing hot sun and 99.9% humidity for 10 min, in order to get to the building we are going to! At least the car's in the shade! :chuckle (She and Dad are in Houston. I am outside Dallas. It's a little better up here)

Where in Houston are you moving to? Do you already have a place lined up? What part of Canada are you coming from. I lived in Calgary for a spell. GOOOOOOOD LUCK with the humidity. You couldn't have PICKED a hotter and more humid time to come! I was born and raised in Houston and STILL can't stand the humidity! I got rea l accustomed to having 4 seasons as wel while i lived on the east coast. It is really hard being back, especially to Houston for Christmas and having to wear shot sleved shirts at times! But the upside is, you can wear flip flops all year long! YAY! And no more shoveling snow! YAY! And you and I can be one of the fortunate few that laugh at all the silly Texans who lock themselves in their houses for 3 days when we get .25 inches of snow/sleet on the ground. I love Texas. I know you will too. The people here are jus so great!

Austin it GORGEOUS! If you are the outdoorsy type, you will love Austin. It is very expensive though compared to cost of living in other TX cities. It is SO cheap to live in Houston. I know in North West Houston, where I was born and raised. You can BUY a nice 4 bedroom SFH from the 80 to 100's. Brand New! If my fiance had a decent job available to his skill set, I would happily move back. Houston is not nearly as pretty as Austin, Houston can be compared to a giant cement parking lot at times. (no kidding) But it has a lot of culture and great restaurants. It's close to the beach and there is lots to do. NOT to mention the incredible reputation of Houston's Medical Community. That would be a hard decision for even me. I just moved to outside Dallas from Austin. I still miss it. But it was expensive to live there. Coming from NYC (I had come from washington DC) though, you might find Austin's COL to not be all that bad. Come visit! (if you go to Austin, be sure to hit San Antonio just for fun. 45 min south of Austin) Texas is a great place! I am really glad to be back after 5 years in DC. (don't be afraid of the people smiling at you...they don't have ulterior motives, they are just friendly Texans. SOME even say hello and ask you how you are doing!) "Texas....It's a WHOLE 'nother country!" (really, seriously)

Yeeeahh, about that..sorry. *smirk* I said 84 hour work week, I ment "pay period"! 36 hours one week, 48 hours the next. Sorry. :)

Thank you for this! So working nights. 7p to 7a in Med/Surg, what can I expect? There will be no meals. There MIGHT be baths at the begining of my shift, I am unclear about this right now. I am asking, as when I interviewed, I was interviewing for the Day NA position. It wasn't until the end that I even knew there was a night pos open. It payed more and would work better with school, so when I was offered a choice, i chose NOC. But what the heck does an NA, or CNA do at night?? Is there some downtime where you can study? Do I clean bathrooms?? (I sure hope not! But you never know) I do know CNA's take vitals q4h during the day. I believe we take vitals NOC too. I am sure there will be some toileting and answering call lights at night. But for the most part, I would think it would be quiet as most pt's are sleeping? Am I way off here? Thanks so much!

Hi! I am a new member here, and just got hired on at ETMC in Athens as an NA. I will get my CNA cert in a short while and was wondering; What kinds of things are CNA's allowed to do, by the state of texas, in a Hosptial environment? For example... I have 7 months of a 9 month Medical Assisting course behind me. I had to move to East Texas and was unable to finish. But because of this schooling, I can give injections and take blood in a few different ways, Vitals, EKG's, Holter Monit. Etc. Now I know CNA's don't get alot of this training, but if I were to get my CNA, then get certifications in the areas I am interested in, (Phlebotomy, Monitor Tech and IV Administration) would I be able to practice these, possibly PRN in the Hospital I work for. Are they bound by law to not let a CNA, no matter if she is certified in the area of Phlebotomy or IV Admin, to not let her/him? If someone could help me out in finding the answer, I would really appreciate it! I am not even sure where to start looking. I will be going to TVCC in the fall to get my pre-reqs out of the way for the ADN program I will be entering in 2007. So eventually I will be able to do all these fun things anyway! I am just trying to broaden my skill base now, so that I can pick up PRN in areas that might pay more, and that I would enjoy. Thanks so much! Kristin

Wow. I need to move where ever ANY of you guys are living. I work in small town-rual Texas, 10,000 people or so. I just got hired on at the big hospital in my area, and I make, hold your breath...6.15 an hour as a NA. I will work nights and get a 15% shift diff. But still. I just moved here from Washington DC, where I worked as a nanny and gymboree music and play teacher. I earned $15 an hour. I have NO idea how I am going to make ends meet. I suppose a lot of overtime is going to be in my future. As it is, I will be working an 84 hour work week. 8 of those will be overtime (time and a half) so that will help. Any other shifts I pick up will be overtime as well. Are there any specialties I can get certifed in that I might be able to do PRN work with? That might help if I had a higher base doing PRN. Regardless. I am doing this for the opportunity and my future. It is so exciting! (I will have to keep remembering that when I get my paychecks and just want to throw in the towel!) :)