silleangyl

Hello everyone! I have an odd situation for which I would love to get some feedback. I am currently working on my nurse aide training class in Pennsylvania. My class will end on Thursday (8/9) and I will be moving to Michigan on Sunday (8/12). Since I will not be in Pennsylvania long enough to take my certification test, I have spoken to the Michgan Department of Community Health and they are going to allow me to take my certification test in Michigan even though I took my class in Pennsylvania. So, basically, every pointer my instructor gives us is geared towards the PA test, which is not going to do me much good. We received a booklet for the Pennsylvania nurse aide test that listed the possible clinical skills as: Washes hands Assists client to ambulate Assists client with bedpan Cleans and stores dentures Counts and records radial pulse Counts and records respirations Dresses clients with weak rigt arm Feeds client who can not feed self Gives modified bed bath (face and one hand, arm, and underarm) Makes an occupied bed Measures and records two step blood pressure Measures and records oral temperature Measures and records urinary output Measures and records weight of ambulatory client Performs passive ROM for one knee and one ankle Performs passive ROM for on shoulder Positions client on side Provides catheter care Provides fingernail care on one hand Provides foot care on one foot Provides mouth care Provides Peri care Puts one knee-high elastic stocking on client Transfers client from bed to wheelchair So, my question is, did anyone receive a skill to do on their Michigan test that is NOT on this list of Pennsylvania skills? Also, are there any specific pointers for the Michigan test that you would care to share? Thanks so so much for any info!

Hello Sheri, While your post is very interesting and I think it is great the the California Department of Corrections is treating its nurses so well, I don't think this situation necessarily indicates that there is no nursing shortage. I think what it does indicate is that it is a well-known fact that the California Deartment of Corrections is a great place to work so lots of nurses would like to work there. What could be happening in this situation is the California Department of Corrections is treating their nurses really well so they obviously want to stay, therefore, exacerbating the nursing shortage in other hospitals. Is there any data that looks at who (working nurses or nurses that previously were not working) is applying for these jobs and if the nursing shortage has become more dire in other hospitals in Californis or if it has stayed the same? So it seems to me that another likely conclusion is that the California Department of Corrections is sucking nurses away from other hospitals and could possibly be making the nurses shortage worse for other hospitals. I do have a comparison example to show what I mean. I am currently a science teacher (planning on making the switch to nursing shortly). Nationwide there is a pretty bad shortage of science teachers. Honestly, I am not even certified to teach but had no trouble finding a teaching position. There is a school district near me that is well known for paying their teachers REALLY well and giving them EXCELLENT benefits. Despite the fact that there is a national science teacher shortage, this district has no trouble filling their positions. So, if you looked at this district alone, you would never be able to tell that there is a shortage of science teachers. If everyone paid teachers as well as this district, then this district would find it harder to find science teachers because there would not be as much of an incentive to teach there. I suspect this could be the same situation with nursing in California. If everyone paid as well as the Cal. Dept. of Corrections then there would not be as much of an incentive for nurses to go out of their way to get these jobs and the Cal. Dept. of Corrections would find it harder to fill positions simply because ther are not enough nurses to go around.

I'd like to ask everyone's opinion on a slight variation of this topic. I'll be taking a nurse aide course this summer and then shortly thereafter moving to another state. I've discovered that it will take 4-6 weeks for the new state to issue me a license. Do you think it would be ok to start applying for jobs before I have a liciense for the new state?

Thanks for your reply, Sarah. Being that Michigan's economy is in the toilet, I was afraid someone would respond this way! I really do appreciate your honesty, though. From the last line of your post it seems that you are only applying to hospital positions. I wouldn't be opposed to working in LTC, so hopefully these kinds of places are hiring.

Any info at all would be greatly appreciated :)

I currently live in Pennsylvania, but I plan on moving to Michigan this summer. Upon an internet search using monster.com and careerbuilder.com, I couldn't find too many full time CNA jobs. So, my question is: To those of you who are Michigan residents, what is your impression of the current job market for CNAs?